Into the Darkness
by DarkSynergy
Summary: (Slenderman X OC) Rosalyn has found herself to be the newest victim of The Slenderman. Can she survive with her sanity intact? And even if she does survive, can one truly ever escape The Slenderman? Especially if he's the one that let her escape in the first place...
1. Chapter 1

It was dark.

No wind was blowing and an eerie silence was engulfing her as she walked through the woods. The only real sound to be heard was the sound of her shoes crunching the dead leaves under her. Why did she have to go through this? Her so called "friends" had left her at a party, leaving her to have to walk home by herself.

She mumbled under her breath as she pulled the strap of her nifty black purse back up to her shoulder. What friends they were. She really should start to hang out with some people who actually cared about her and not just how they looked in front of the popular kids. Tonight had been embarrassing for her and it had left her feeling hurt and very upset.

She sighed. What had her so called "friends" been thinking? "Oh hey guys! Let's just go ride around town being stupid idiots and not really care if we happen to leave someone behind!" She mimicked them with a dumb look on her face while waving her arms back and forth for affect. Whatever, it's not she even liked the party anyways. Too many crazy wild teens drinking and throwing up all over the place wasn't really her idea of having fun.

"What a bunch of jerks." She said aloud to no one as she continued to walk through the woods. The path she was traveling on was worn with age. The grass and dead leaves covered most of it leaving only parts of it visible. But she had walked this path thousands of times before...just not at night.

She continued on her journey for a few more minutes, her thoughts still on the party. She wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings as she was lost in her thoughts.

Turning right on the path, she suddenly froze. She looked around the pathway. The trees seemed to be denser and taller here making her feel small beside them. She had never gone this far before. Had she taken a wrong turn? Her parents were going to kill her if she came home late, but that wasn't the problem.

She felt like she was being watched.

Shivers ran up her spine, making her skin have goosebumps. Her breathing started to get faster as she started to think of what was happening.

She was alone, in the woods, in the dark and she was lost.

Her mind started to panic. How was she going to get back home? She didn't feel so angry anymore, she felt afraid. She started to walk again, this time walking faster then before. The odd feeling of being watched didn't leave her as she scanned the area looking for something that looked familiar to her to help her get out of this place. Her footsteps were getting louder now that she was walking at a quicker pace. The forest floor seemed to make her movements known to the whole world. What if someone heard her?

She continued for a while longer trying to find her way home. With every step she took the forest seemed to swallow her up into it's darkness leaving her feeling more lost than before. Her senses were on high alert. Everything seemed to be more noticeable than before. She was beginning to feel cold now and it didn't help that suddenly the wind had started to blow and make howling noises causing the forest to seem alive. She pushed her long light brown hair out of her face as the wind blew. She didn't like this situation one bit.

The full moon shown down upon her as she continued to walk giving her a pale complexion. All around her the trees seemed to be reaching for her trying to grab her and the wind seemed to be whispering things to her as she walked.

She came across a dead tree in the middle of the path. On the tree there was a note which read: "Don't look...or it takes you." She was interested with what it said. What would take her? She grabbed the note off the tree and continued on her way.

She path split into two ways after a while, she decided to go on the right path. She ended up in front of a building. The place looked deserted, but she knew that she had to continue on. She entered the building, her eyes were not able to see very far ahead because of the darkness. She had not brought a flashlight with her. She stepped as quietly as she could on the tile floor trying to not make a noise. Her breaths were shaky and she was ready to run at any second. She turned the corner and found herself in a long hallway. She then turned right and ended up in a small room. She could faintly see something on the wall as she approached it. I was another note. "Always watches no eyes." The note read. What could this possibly mean? Her hand shook as she reached for the note. She wanted to get out of here and now.

She turned around and walked to one of the many entrances of the building. She hesitated about stepping out. She suddenly heard a noise. Her breath hitched as She turned around quickly. Nothing was there.

Was her mind playing tricks on her?

She let out a shaky breath that she didn't even know she was holding. She shook her head. "I need to calm down. Nothing is wrong, I just need to focus on getting home" she thought.

She turned around again to face outside of the building. Her eyes grew wide in horror. There was something over by the trees. It looked like a man. It was tall, thin, it had very long arms, it's skin was pure white and it was wearing a suit and tie. But that wasn't what scared her.

It had no face. It looked like it was looking strait at her, but she couldn't tell. It was just...there.

She tried to scream, but no sound came out. She couldn't blink, couldn't move, her whole body was shaking in fear.

What...what was that thing!?

She started to hear static and her vision was getting fuzzy. Her mind was telling her to run, but her legs wouldn't comply.

She was going to die...she was going to die...she was going to die!

Tentacle-like appendages sprouted from its back as she stared at it. They seemed like they would engulf her at any moment now.

She was screaming on the inside for her body to comply with her and let her flee the scene. The creature continued to stare at her and she had a sinking feeling that it wasn't going to stay in that spot much longer.

Her legs finally complied with her and she began to run back into the building, her purse dropped to the floor forgotten about in her rush to get away. Her shoes hit the tiles with tremendous force as she ran creating an echo. Click clack, click clack, click. She was breathing heavily through her mouth trying desperately to suck in some air as she began to hyperventilate.

She ran strait out the other side of the building, not stopping one second to look back. She came across some old oil tanks. She ran in between them as fast as she could trying to get away from this hell hole. The static was growing louder in her ears, she could hardly hear anything else except the constant static and it was driving her up the wall. The same was happening to her vision. She could hardly see ten feet in front of her now.

She dared to look behind her.

The creature was there; about fifteen or so feet behind her. It was following her, but it wasn't moving. How did it get there then?

She gasped and looked forward again. Oh dear lord, why her?

All of a sudden she slipped. Her feet gave way under her and she started to fall. She put her hands out in front of her, but she ended up hitting her head on the dirt. She tried to get up but her head was swimming. She couldn't see, everything was blurry. She reached up to her head, her fingers came in contact with a sticky substance and it was now starting to drip down her hand. She bit her bottom lip, as she flinched from the pain. She didn't dare look up from were she was staring down at her lap.

The static was so loud now, she was sure her head would explode. She clutched at the side of her head trying to block out the sound.

Make it stop, make it stop!

Tears slid down her face, she was trapped. No where to run, no were to hide. Her vision was so fuzzy now she could hardly see anything, but she knew the thing was right in front of her. She could feel it staring down at her-even if it didn't have a face. She could hardly stay awake now. Why did she feel so tired? Her body started to sway back and forth, she could feel sleep creeping it's way closer to her. As she was about to hit the ground in exhaustion, something pulled her back up.

Those tentacles slid around her torso, pulling her back up in a sitting position. She gasped, horrified of what was happening to her. She tried to break free using all her leftover strength. But as she did so, they tightened their grip on her, making sure she couldn't escape. Something sharp touched her cheek, scratching it in the processes. That was the last thing she remembered before...

She blacked-out.


	2. Fun and Games

Darkness.

Many people fear it. As children people were afraid of the monsters under their beds at night. You cannot see in the dark. It is a never ending void of blackness. They fear what they cannot see, that is why darkness scares so many.

But for some it is what they thrive on.

The creature watched as some humans stumbled across the rundown pathway. They were laughing to themselves and seemed to be in a rather high-spirited mood, oblivious to their surroundings. He could smell the alcohol on their breath. Humans were idiotic creatures most of the time and these foolish humans were no different. He watched them as they continued down the path, stumbling along as they went. These humans had no idea what was about to happen to them. This would be too easy.

He stepped out from behind the tree he had been behind, preparing to make himself known to them. It had been a while since he had some victims dare to enter his forest, and he felt the thrill of being able to be on the hunt again.

He teleported in front of them, his tentacles appeared from his back swaying back and forth in a wild manner. The two drunken teenagers at first thought they were seeing things, due to their drunken state of mind. But after a few seconds, they thought otherwise. They began to hear static noises in their ears and their vision became blurry. In a state of panic, the two boys fumbled around aimlessly trying to run away. But Slenderman wasn't going to let his prey get away. He grabbed one of them with his tentacles, placing them on either side of the boy before pulling, ripping him apart slowly and very painfully. The teen screamed at the top of his lungs as everything faded to black, his friend watching in horror. But Slenderman was not done yet. The last remaining teen stumbled to get back onto his feet as the creature approached him. He ran as fast as he could through the accursed forest. The trees seemingly swallowing up his screams as he ran, making sure no one would come to his rescue. He wanted to escape, he needed to, but his fate was already sealed.

The deed was done, but he wasn't satisfied. There was not a lot of satisfaction in victims that were too drunk even to be able to correctly run from him. He needed someone smarter...someone to actually make his time worth while. That was when he sensed someone in his forest. Another human is seemed. Perhaps this one would be more of a challenge.

Slender-walking over to that side of the forest, Slender saw his new victim. A girl with dark blue eyes and long light brown hair was walking down the run-down stone pathway. She seemed to be upset about something if the look of annoyance on her face said anything. She seemed to sense someone watching her after a while and had began to walk faster through the forest toward were the building was. She had already collected one note and was soon to collect another. This was going to be fun. She entered the building as he appeared by the trees by one of the many openings, waiting for her return. When she came out he was expecting her to run, but she did not for a while. Perhaps because she was paralyzed in fear? He watched as her eyes became wide and she trembled where she stood. He loved it when his victims were afraid of him- which to say the least, all of them were.

Finally after a few seconds, the girl seemed to come to her senses and began to run. Finally, it was now time to corner his prey.

She slipped and fell only after a minute or so. Clumsy human, this would be the end for her. He approached her small body as she sat on the ground looking downwards her head bowed. She wouldn't look up at him. This angered him because he wanted to see the fear in her eyes. She started to fall, but his tentacles slid around her torso pulling her back upright. He was about to finish her...but wait. Why end it now? The fun was just beginning. Why not let her go and continue the game so he could see as her life slowly fell apart while she went insane? This seemed like a much better idea than just killing her now. It would be a lot more satisfactory in the end. After all that was one of the many things Slenderman was good at-torturing his victims just by being there.

This was exactly what he would do.

He reached one of his hands up to her face and with one sharp finger scratched a line down her cheek. She would now remember him. She wouldn't believe that he was just her imagination, for now she had something to remember him by. He then let go of her now unconscious body and let her fall back to the ground.

"Until we meet again human." And with that...

He was gone.

_

It was so peaceful here. In this dark world of unconsciousness. She wanted to stay there forever. Not having to worry about anything, and forgetting the horror she had just been through. But her mind would not allow her to as she started to wake up. She could hear birds chirping and a cool wind blowing, creating a whistling sound as it blew past her. Wait birds chirping? Her eyes fluttered open. Panic ran through her. What was she doing here? She sat up slowly, biting her lip in the process. She had a massive headache and her head was pounding. Her memory was foggy. What had caused her to wake up in the forest like this? She could remember going to a party with some friends, but everything after that was a blur.

Then she suddenly remembered, her parents told her to be home before was midnight and it was obviously not that time now.

She was in so much trouble.

She jumped to her feet, she had to get home and now. She scanned the area looking for her black purse. She knew she had it earlier, but where was it now?

She could see a building behind some old oil tanks. Perhaps she should go check there? As she walked between the oil tanks to the building, she remembered something from last night. She had been running past these tanks to get away from something, but what was it? She couldn't remember. She entered the building, a uneasy feeling was in her stomach as she walked through the long halls. Something didn't feel right here. After many twists and turns, she found her purse at the end of one of the halls. She picked it up, checking to make sure all of her belongings were still there. Luckily they were all accounted for.

She walked out of the building, heading down the old path, passing a dead tree on her way. She had a feeling she had come by this way last night, but she wasn't quite sure. Perhaps if she continued down the path she would find the right way home. As she walked, she looked at her surroundings. These trees seemed so lifeless. All the leaves on the trees (except the pine trees) had almost already fallen off and it was only the beginning of autumn. It was also dead quiet here, except for her shoes crunching some dead leaves on the path. She found this very strange and somewhat creepy. She wouldn't mind getting out of this place and now.

Luckily after a few minutes of walking through the "dead" part of the forest, the trees began to have their normal autumn colored leaves again, and the things seemed to be normal again. This made her relieved, but also made her wonder. Why was only part of the forest this way and the other part so grim? She forgot about the thought as she finally found the path she normally took to get home. Hopefully her parents were not awake yet. It seemed to still be early in the morning since the sun was still rising in the distance. Most likely they had not waited up for her to come home last night either since they had work the next day, but if they did, then even of she got home before they awoke, she would be in so much trouble.

The trees started to clear, revealing a sidewalk around 20 feet away. She was at the outskirts of her neighborhood now, only a few more minutes then she would be home. She started to run as she was just a few houses down from where her house was. Her neighbors: the Johnsons were an old married couple who were always watching out of their windows making sure nothing strange was going on. They were like the watch dogs of the neighborhood. If they saw someone doing something they didn't like, they would tell them immediately. Many of the other neighbors found them to be quiet annoying. No one could do anything without the Johnsons finding out about it, so getting home as fast as she could would be best if she didn't want to hear the Johnsons complaining that she was out and about early in the morning and they didn't think it was safe.

She got to the front door of her house, quickly scanning around in her purse trying to find her key. She pulled it out and unlocked the door. She stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind her as quietly as she could. She walked into the kitchen and went strait for the fridge. She grabbed a piece of cheesecake and walked over to the dining room, grabbing a fork as she went. She sat down at the table and started to chomp down her food. She was famished. When was the last time she had eaten? She couldn't remember.

The lights suddenly turned on. Her mom was standing in the doorway behind her. She was still in her nightgown and her blonde hair was all messy. She looked tired, perhaps she had not gotten enough sleep last light?

"Rosalyn, what are you doing up this early in the morning?" Her mother's voice sounded very tired as she spoke.

Roslyn stopped eating. "Nothing mom, I was just hungry. I didn't eat much last night, and I was too sleepy to change my clothes and eat something when I came back." She said still looking down at her now half eaten cheesecake.

Her mother didn't seem very convinced. She walked over to the table and took a seat across from her teenage daughter. Rosalyn looked up from her plate as her mom sat down, having a feeling that she was about to say something else. As she looked up her mother saw the dried blood on the front of her head. Her mother's eyes widened.

"Rosalyn! What happened to you!" Her mother shrieked as she jumped out of her seat and rushed to her daughter's side. She placed her hand on the front of Rosalyn's head trying to get some of the blood off. Rosalyn flinched as she did so. "You're all bloody! How did this happen?"

Rosalyn stared at her mom, her face showing how confused she was at this statement. She reached a hand up to her head, stiffening in pain as she touched the cut. Sure enough there was dried blood there.

"I-I don't know. I can't remember how it happened."

"Does your head hurt? Oh honey this is really bad. What happened last night? Were you drunk?" Her mom asked quickly, a worried look on her face as she talked to Rosalyn.

"It does hurt somewhat and I feel a little dizzy. But I wasn't drunk last night." Rosalyn said a little bit irritated. Just because she was hurt did not mean she had been drinking.

"I'm calling the doctor. You might have a concussion." Her mom walked back into the kitchen looking for the phone.

Rosalyn just sat there as her mom dialed the number on the phone. Her mom spoke with a irritated voice as she talked to the receptionist about making an appointment with the doctor . She hung her head looking down at her lap. She felt somewhat tired now and she felt a little nauseous. Her head was still throbbing a little. She brought her hands up to her head and rubbed her temples trying to ease the pain.

Her mother came back into the room. "I set up an appointment with the doctor. We'll be going there at noon," She walked towards her daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Nothing might be wrong, but we still need to make sure. I also phoned my boss and told him I would be late because of a family emergency. You should probably go upstairs to get cleaned up and go rest until it's time."

Rosalyn nodded her head slowly and walked upstairs. She walked past her parent's room relieved to find her father still asleep. At least she would not have to worry about his fatherly over-protectiveness right now if he saw the blood on her. She entered the bathroom, making her way to the sink. She turned the handle for warm water, watching as it started to flow out of the faucet. She reached for a cloth laying on the side of the sink. She dipped the cloth in the water and began to wash her face and the cut on her head. The water stung as she touched certain parts of her face. She looked up into the mirror just to see how messed up her face was. It wasn't that bad compared to what she thought it would be, but there was still some blood at the top of her face. There also seemed to be a scratch on her right cheek. She reached a hand up to her cheek touching the scratch lightly. When had she gotten this?

No sooner had she thought that, all her memory of what happened last night returned to her. She stared at her reflection in horror as she remembered the creature from last night. She had been sure she was going to die when it cornered her last night, but why had it let her live? Her mind kept telling her because it had been a dream and that nothing like that had ever happened last night. But she couldn't believe that. It had made that mark on her cheek for a reason. It hadn't wanted her to forget...it had done it so that she would remember it. It wasn't a dream even though she truly wanted it to be.

It wasn't finished with her yet.


	3. It has only just begun

The trees seemed to zoom by at the speed of sound as the little car drove on the small road through the outskirts of the town. The driver seemed to be in a rush, if their speed was anything to go by. The person in the passenger seat though, seemed to be the complete opposite.

Rosalyn was staring out of the window watching as the scenery went by with no real interest. She had too much on her mind for that.

As of now, Rosalyn and her mother were driving home from the doctor. The doctor had said that Rosalyn seemed to be just fine. She was responding well and didn't seem to have any problems with understanding and communicating. Although, he had advised her to stay indoors today and let her body rest. But how could she when those thoughts kept running through her mind?

She knew that that thing was after her, ever since she could finally remember everything from last night, she couldn't put the thought away. It wasn't a dream-it couldn't be. She had many crazy dreams before, but this one felt so real.

She couldn't have made it up.

But it still seemed very odd. Monsters weren't real (or shouldn't be anyway). She had been raised to not believe in stuff like that, but now? All her childish ideas about there being such thing as the Headless HorseMan or Frankenstein didn't seem so stupid after all.

She didn't want to admit it, but she was quite afraid-I mean who wouldn't be? This thing was real and it was after her for some reason. She had never heard of this creature before and she had the feeling it didn't make itself known to her so that they could have a nice little tea party or anything. She needed to do something about this, but what could she do? She was quite sure that no one would believe her if she told them some creature with no face was after her. It seemed like she would have to figure things out by herself.

Rosalyn turned away from the window as she stretched her arms out trying to shake the sleep out of her. Her back also popped in the process making her feel much better. Even though she had taken a quick nap before going to the doctor, she still oddly felt exhausted.

Sitting next to Rosalyn, her mother was impatiently driving, a look of frustration on her face. There was an unsettling silence going on between them. Rosalyn couldn't tell if her mother was mad at her or not. Perhaps it was because her mother was just stressing about work?

Rosalyn stared at her mother, watching her as she drove. Her mother's mouth was pulled down into a frown and she was tapping her fingers lightly on the steering wheel as she waited for the light to turn green again.

"Come on, hurry up already. I don't have all day. . ." Her mother mumbled under her breath her teeth clenched together in annoyance.

As if on command, the light turned from red to green. Rosalyn's mom didn't waste any time stepping on the gas.

No one spoke for the next few minutes as they drove. Rosalyn had returned to looking out the window, her thoughts back on the night before. She felt somewhat paranoid as she looked around outside. She had this feeling like someone would jump out at her. Her breathing was somewhat uneven as she tried to keep herself calm.

The silence was also unnerving to Rosalyn and she really wanted it to stop. She looked over to her mom again, ready to break the silence. "Mom, slow down. You're going ten miles over the speed limit." Rosalyn said smoothly, trying to make sure not to anger her impatient mother.

Rosalyn's words brought her mother out from her thoughts. She hadn't really noticed that she was speeding. She slowed down back to the right speed feeling still a little dazed from what just happened.

"Mom, what's wrong? You don't look so happy." Rosalyn said cautiously. Her mother was known for her temper and Rosalyn didn't want her to start yelling.

Her mother clenched the steering wheel tighter in her grip. Her mother was quiet furious with Rosalyn-even though Rosalyn couldn't tell now.

"Don't try to butter me up Rosalyn. I know you were lying to me earlier. What were you really doing last night? I know you didn't come home on time!" Her mother snapped her face turned to look over at Rosalyn with anger.

Rosalyn was a little startled by her mother's outburst of anger. How had she known? Honestly Rosalyn was surprised her mother hadn't yelled at her sooner. And what was she to tell her? Her mother wouldn't honestly believe her if she did tell the truth.

"I-I uh…."

"You were drinking last night weren't you? I knew it! I knew you shouldn't have gone to that party. You're not responsible enough with all your friends around! Either that or you were doing something else stupid. That's how you got your head hurt isn't it?" Her mother was yelling rather loud now and her face was somewhat red with anger as she continued to drive.

Rosalyn was surprised. She already told her mom she hadn't drunken any alcohol at the party and she still believed she had? Then again, this was her mother they were talking about. She didn't really believe anything anyone said. So what was she supposed to tell her then?

"No mom, I wasn't drunk! I already told you that!" Rosalyn said loudly as she folded her arms across her chest. "I hit my head when I was walking home. I tripped on something that's how it happened."

"Did you just raise your voice at me young lady? I have a hard time believing your story. Plus what were you doing walking home? You said you were going to come home with your friends! Anything could have happened to you by yourself. I'm very ashamed of you. No cell phone for a month!"

Rosalyn knew there was no good way out of this, so she just let her mom think she was right. She clenched her teeth together as her mother kept ranting on about how when she was her age she wouldn't have done that sort of thing. They were almost home now, and Rosalyn felt like she was about to collapse from exhaustion soon.

She looked outside again, watching as they passed some of her neighbor's houses. Her mother on the other hand, was finally done talking, but she was still upset and she scowled for the rest of the short drive home.

As they arrived at the house, her mother got out hastily. Rosalyn opened the car door on her side and followed her mother at a slower place enjoying the small breeze that was blowing. Her mother fumbled to get the keys in the door quickly. "Just wait until your father hears about this after I get home from work." Her mother said as she opened the door.

Rosalyn stepped inside quietly, hoping to be able to slip upstairs as soon as possible. Her father was sitting in the dining room sipping on a cup of coffee while reading a newspaper. He looked up from it as she and her mother entered the house.

Her mother rushed past them both as she went into the kitchen to get something. Her shoes making clicking noises on the tile as she walked. Her father stared up at Rosalyn standing in the doorway, his grey eyes behind his glasses scanning her over with an intense look.

"Hey dad," Rosalyn greeted him as she approached the dark wooden dining table. "Why aren't you at work yet?" She said as she sat down on one of the chairs.

Her father put his news paper down and laid his reading glasses next to it. He placed his arms on the table and folded his hands staring at her with a serious look. "They didn't need me today. Said they had enough people working on the new project and nothing else was going on that they needed me for." Her father said somewhat upset as he brushed one of his hands through his graying hair.

Her father worked for a plumbing business. The only one around where she lived. Every other one was at least a few hours away from their small town in Pennsylvania. Her father had worked there for fifteen years, but recently business wasn't coming in much and her father wasn't getting as much work. This had been the third time his boss hadn't needed him to come into work this month.

"Oh." Rosalyn moved uncomfortably in her seat as her father stared at her.

"Your mother called me earlier this morning. She told me you got hurt?" Her father said as he took a few more sips of his coffee.

"Yea, I tripped and fell hitting my head in the process." Rosalyn pointed to the big bandage on the front of her head.

"Hmm…." Her father continued to drink his coffee. Rosalyn was surprised he was taking this so well considering how overprotective he normally was.

Her mother suddenly came out from the kitchen, walking past them again heading for the front door. She didn't stop to look at them. "We'll need to have a chat when I get home. Rosalyn is in trouble; don't let her have her cell phone." Her mother said as she pulled out her dark red coat from the hallway closet and put it on.

Her father stared at Rosalyn with a questioning look as her mother left.

"I didn't do anything bad, I swear." Rosalyn said innocently her mouth pulled into a little smile.

"Right…." Her father continued to drink his coffee.

Rosalyn got up from the table and walked back into the hallway. "The doctor said I need to go and rest for most of the day. I'll be upstairs." Her father nodded in understanding and he picked up his newspaper again.

Rosalyn started to climb up the wooden stairs; the hallway was dim since there was no light on at the moment. Her head started to ache, and as she continued her climb upstairs, she felt nauseous. As she got to the top of the stairs, she stopped. She really didn't feel too good now. She started to gag and her stomach felt very upset. She ran to the bathroom, throwing up in the toilet promptly. Afterwards her headache seemed to get worse. Her head was throbbing and her eyesight was spinning as she sat by the toilet. She reached a hand up to her head as she grimaced from the pain. As her eyesight went back to normal, she noticed drops of blood on the white tile by the toilet. She reached up to her nose feeling the blood trickle out from it. Rosalyn was scared again as the scene before her reminded her of last night.

What was happening to her?


	4. Paranoia

It had been a few days since Rosalyn had her first encounter with the creature in the forest. She hadn't seen it since then. Her mind kept telling her that it was just her imagination that had run wild that night, but the long scratch on her right cheek by her eye reminded her that it wasn't.

Rosalyn had always had a very big imagination. When she was little she used to tell the craziest tales to get herself out of trouble and had always stories to tell about her friends that she claimed weren't imaginary. But Rosalyn knew that this time it wasn't her imagination. She wasn't a child anymore.

As of right now, Rosalyn was walking home from a long day of school. Her black and dark blue backpack was on one shoulder, since Rosalyn liked carrying it that way.

Her blue eyes scanned the horizon, looking around the street at nothing in particular. She wasn't feeling very good. Her head ached for the millionth time today. She had been getting these headaches since the encounter, and today it seemed worse than the days past for some reason. She hadn't thrown up or been very sick since the day after the encounter though. She had a nosebleed yesterday, but other than that the only thing wrong with her was those stupid headaches.

Rosalyn put her hand up to her head as she grimaced. Today had been a long day for her. School had been a bother, and Rosalyn couldn't wait to get home and relax.

As the sidewalk went on, it turned onto a small hill. The forest started to appear in all its glory running alongside the sidewalk there. As Rosalyn got to where the forest began she stopped in her tracks. She hadn't been this way since that night after the party. But today for some reason she had decided to go this way. Perhaps out of habit? This was the quickest way to her house and she really didn't want to have to retrace her steps and go the long way around now, but just continuing down the sidewalk by the forest made her shiver.

She tried to get those thoughts of that night out of her head. That creature hadn't bothered her since then and for all she knew it might not even be able to leave the woods. There were sure to be people around and there were houses on the other side of the sidewalk. Rosalyn had a feeling the creature wouldn't bother her if people were around. It seemed like someone who didn't really want people to know it was there. Although as of now, she didn't see anyone other than herself.

"Just keep walking. It'll be ok." She told herself. Although she knew this was almost like putting a target on her back for it to attack her again. But it wouldn't attack here if there were people around that could witness it right?

She took a few shaky breaths, trying to get the nerve to walk past this way. Slowly she made her way forward again.

Rosalyn still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling engulfing her. The forest seemed dark and gloomy. Its unwelcoming atmosphere was very unsettling. The shadows in the forest seemed to dance around creating an illusion of movement, which had Rosalyn on guard. The wind also started to nip a little at Rosalyn's skin, making her zip her dark purple hoodie up to keep the cold away.

Rosalyn was itching to run away from this creepy place, but she told herself otherwise. She had to get home, relax and spend some quality alone time with herself and a good book. Yes, that sounded like a very good idea to her.

A car went by on the road and some people appeared on the other side of the street as Rosalyn got on the other side of the hill. Rosalyn let out a sigh of relief; at least she wasn't fully alone. She sped up her walking a little, eager to get home now that she wasn't so concerned about the forest swallowing her up never letting her out again. Her backpack slipped down her shoulder as she sped up. She quickly pulled it up again.

"Hey Rosalyn, wait up!"

Rosalyn heard the pounding of shoes of someone running behind her. She could tell who it was by the voice. She scowled. She'd been able to successfully avoid her friends for the past few days of school, but it seemed that her luck had run out.

The person came to an abrupt stop next to Rosalyn on her right side, panting from the quick workout she had just had. Rosalyn didn't turn to look at her friend; her hand clutched the strap of her backpack on her shoulder harder in annoyance and anger.

"Rosalyn, I'm sorry….. I mean we're sorry-all the girls are," The teenage girl said between breaths.

Rosalyn just huffed, clearly not buying her friend's words.

The blonde haired girl beside her rolled her eyes. Typical Rosalyn, always stubborn. "Rosie, come on we're really sorry! We didn't mean to leave you alone that night. The girls asked me to come here and ask for your forgiveness. We really didn't mean it."

Rosalyn almost turned to look at her friend when she heard her embarrassing nickname (to her anyway) to tell her friend not to call her that, but she decided against it. Instead she walked even faster, now almost running down the sidewalk.

Her friend sped up too, hoping to finally get Rosalyn's attention. "Rosie, wait up!" She said as she sped up to Rosalyn. "Can't we at least talk this out? Please Rosalyn; just look at me at least!"

Rosalyn ignored her friend again, continuing on her way without a care.

"Dammit Rosalyn you're so stubborn!" The blonde grabbed Rosalyn's shoulder and tried to forcefully turn Rosalyn to face her.

Rosalyn finally turned to face her friend standing in front of the woods on the sidewalk. "I'm listening…." She said with a frown on her face.

"Thank goodness. Well as I said Rosie, we're really sorry about leaving you. We weren't exactly ourselves you know. And we're really sorry." Her friend said with pleading blue eyes on her tanned face.

Rosalyn thought about what her friend said. Her friends had gotten drunk that night, so she couldn't really hold it against them right? But even before they had become intoxicated, they already had been ignoring her to go chase guys around and to be with the more popular teens. It was also quite unfair that they would send one of the girls to say sorry for all of them. If they were really that sorry wouldn't they all had come?

"Ok fine, I forgive you. But Anna, that doesn't mean I forgive the Alicia and Carly. If they're so sorry, they should come and apologize themselves. " Rosalyn had some anger in her voice as she spoke.

Anna smirked at Rosalyn's words. "I knew you'd say that. I told the other girls that it wouldn't work, but oh well," Anna wrapped her arms around Rosalyn in a friendly hug. "Hey, at least we're friends again right?"

Rosalyn was somewhat surprised at Anna's sudden show of compassion. She had thought Anna would have been mad at her for what she said, but she pushed her surprise aside and hugged Anna back quite happy that she at least had one friend she could talk to now.

After the minute or so of hugging one another, the pair started to walk down the street again. Both were happy to have gotten that problem off their chests and the scene around them seemed to had lightened up a bit. Rosalyn's headache had also vanished as they walked making her feel much more at ease.

"You know Rosie, you should be happy we brought you to the party. You're always reading those books or online, so it's good you came." Anna said suddenly.

Rosalyn turned to her friend, just staring at her like she grew another head or something. Anna laughed. "I'm kidding! Rosalyn, you should have seen your face!" Anna's face was turning red from her laughter now.

"Very funny Anna," Rosalyn deadpanned as she stared at her somewhat short friend.

Anna finally stopped laughing and looked at her watch. "Oh shit. I gotta get going," She continued to curse under her breath. "I'll see you later Rosalyn!" She said as she ran off in the other direction.

"Bye." Rosalyn said somewhat quietly to her friend's slowly getting smaller figure. She then turned around back to the direction she had been going in and continued on her way. For a second, Rosalyn saw something in the corner of her eye. But as soon as she saw it, it disappeared as fast as it had come.

Rosalyn turned the key in the door lock. She felt quite relieved to finally be home. The door unlocked, revealing the welcoming sight of her home. Rosalyn let out a sigh of relief as she entered the white two story house with dark blue shutters.

"Hello?" She asked to know one in particular. She stepped into the main hallway and took off her shoes. When she got no response to her question, she assumed that her parents must still be at their jobs. That was fine with her. The more time alone to do things, the better.

She went over to the living room jumping down onto the dark red couch, sinking into its plush seats as she did so.

The living room wasn't the biggest place, but what it lacked in space, it gained in coziness and comfort. In front of Rosalyn sat a dark wooden coffee table with an ornament that had fake flowers in it. The walls were painted white, with some pictures of her family and times past on them. To the right side of the couch there was a recliner and on the left there was a fireplace that no one used anymore. The TV was in front of the couch right after the coffee table. It was an older TV, one you probably wouldn't find in stores anymore unless you went to a thrift shop.

Rosalyn's parents weren't exactly the richest people. A lot of the furniture and other things had been in the house since Rosalyn was very young and her parents hadn't had the time or money to update on any of the rooms. But Rosalyn didn't mind if the couch was a little ripped on the sides or if her table had scratches on it. To her it was home and that's all that mattered. Though, Rosalyn wouldn't mind having a new computer or furniture.

Rosalyn reached for the TV remote on the coffee table, turning on the TV as soon as her finger found the power button. She flipped through some of the channels trying to find something interesting to watch. Finally satisfied with a certain channel, Rosalyn sank back into the couch in to total relaxed state.

After a few minutes Rosalyn got tired of watching the movie on the TV. She flipped through some more channels trying to find something interesting, but to no prevail. So out of curiosity and boredom, she picked up the local newspaper that so happened to by lying on the floor by the couch. Her father probably had put it there from when he had finished reading it this morning.

She flipped through a couple of pages, just skimming through the words on them. She had just passed through the sports section and had flipped through some of the other pages after it. As she was about to flip another page something caught her eye. It was a missing person's article on the right side of the newspaper. She immediately began to read it.

It read as following:

Michal James Turner and Nick Walter Smithfield  
Gender: Both male.  
Age of both: 18  
Height: Michal: 5'10 Nick: 6'1

These two teenagers were last seen on Saturday night at 11:30 pm on September 17th 2011 at a high school party in the town of Lakeview Pennsylvania. They left shortly after the time stated and have not been seen or heard from since. If you have any information please contact the police.

End of article.

Rosalyn kept reading the article over and over. She looked at the photos provided of the two boys. She knew these boys since they went to her school. How could this have happened? She had remembered them at the party from that night. They had become a little drunk at the time, but why would they just disappear? Come to think of it, they had left a little while before she had.

Her mind jumped to the conclusion that the creature in the forest had done something to them, something terrible. No it couldn't be…. But it made so much sense. The creature hadn't just been after her that night, but why had it let her live then? Should she tell someone about this? It was a pretty big deal, especially if the two teens had gotten killed. So many thoughts kept flowing through her mind. What was she to do, what was she to do!

One thing was for sure though; she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.


	5. Help Me!

AN: I just want to say thank you to all the people who reviewed this story. It really means a lot to me. Plus it keeps me motivated and helps me improve with all the input and constructive criticism I get. =)

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Imagination.

It creates, rethinks, and tells the wildest of tales. People's imaginations can be used to make great things. It helps us to think of something never thought of before. It gives us amazing stories that capture the reader's (or listener's) mind and transports them to another world. Without it, life would simply be a dull place. You'd never be able to escape into the reaches of a wonderful book, to be able to dive into something other than everyday life. This is what Rosalyn loved about reading. It was an escape to her from everyday life.

Rosalyn flipped another page in the multi-page novel she was currently reading. She was lying down on her bed. The bed was positioned right next to the window and Rosalyn could look outside just by craning her neck a little from where she was laying. Right now though, all her attention was on the book lying in front of her on the bed.

It was getting late. It was now 10:00 pm and it was quite dark out now. Her mother would still be at the restaurant she worked at as a waitress taking orders from bothersome customers. At least that's what her mother called them. She wasn't exactly fond of her job. Her father on the other hand should have been home by now. Maybe something came up at work? All the same, wouldn't he have at least called to tell her he was going to be late then? But Rosalyn shouldn't need to worry about him. He was a grown man after all. He could take care of himself.

Nevertheless, it still worried her though and for many reasons. Most of them were just simple things like what if he had to stay really late and didn't call or if he was physically ok. He'd been having some medical problem as of late and she worried that it might slow down his work. All this worrying of hers was distracting her from the book she was currently reading. But the main reason she was worried didn't have to do anything with him at all.

The main reason she was concerned was that she hadn't been home alone since the encounter with the creature in the woods. Well, that is until tonight. This in itself was somewhat foolish to be afraid of. She hadn't seen that monster or whatever it was since that night and it didn't know where she lived….right? She hadn't seen it when she walked out of the woods the next morning so she assumed it hadn't been there anymore. There was no need to worry then. It couldn't find her. She pushed her worries aside and tried to continue reading her story.

It worked for a while. Rosalyn was successfully able to dive into the world of romance, drama and action in her book. She was quite into this story especially since the two main characters were about to confess their love for one another. Her eyes zoomed through the page, eager to find out what was going to happen next. Then another thought hit her that broke her from her reading suddenly.

What if the creature had followed her?

She looked up from her book, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. No it couldn't have followed her. She had been sure of it. It couldn't get her; it didn't know where she was. There was no way that it knew where she was, but then why did her mind keep telling her to worry about it coming for her?

But what if she had been followed all along? She had been very skittish and paranoid the morning after the attack. That had kept her looking around every once and a while making sure she didn't see the creature following her. The night of the attack she hadn't even seen the creature until she walked out of that building. It had to have known she was in there. How long had it known though? Had it been stalking her? Had it done the same thing the next morning without her knowing? From what she saw, this creature had some special abilities and it did blend in with the surrounding somewhat. For all she knew it could have followed her to her house this afternoon after school.

She mentally scolded herself. I'm so stupid! It could have been following me all along! I should have gone a different way to lead it off course and not directly to my own home!

Why hadn't she thought of this before? Well for one, she had been quite frightened after the encounter and when people are scared or their life might be in danger they don't always look at all the details. But this escaped Rosalyn's mind as she kept on scolding herself mentally.

She began to read again, trying to forget those thoughts about the creature. She didn't have any proof that it was following her or if it wasn't, so she might as well try to forget about it for now. She continued to read for ten more minutes, but even with nothing as of right now to be afraid of, the "what if's" kept playing in her head.

She got into a sitting position, her legs dangling off the side of the bed. Her mind was in a flurry, there was no way she could get back to that book and fully dive back into it with these thoughts on her mind. There was just no way that tonight that would occur.

She really needed to get this off of her mind. Maybe a snack from the kitchen would help? That sounded like a good idea to her. Besides, she was a little hungry.

She got up from her bed, and then leaned sideways a little to just quickly check out the window out of habit to see if one of her parents' cars had drove up in the driveway yet. There was nothing on the driveway as of now. A few street lights gave off a little light a ways down the street showing bits of the sidewalk and her neighbors' houses, but other than that it was pure darkness outside.

She then walked out of the room, turning the light off as she went. The hallway light wasn't on and she couldn't see but she knew where she was going. This was her house after all.

It took a few seconds of fumbling around, but she eventually found the light switch for the upstairs hallway light. She didn't flip it on, deciding instead to be daring and to proceed downstairs in the darkness. As she reached the last step, something all too familiar greeted her. That noise was in her ears again. That static kind of ringing noise.

She froze on the last step. Her eyes widened a bit in disbelief and shock. No, no, no! This can't happen! There was no mistake in what that noise meant. She'd only heard it once before. That was where she encountered the creature.

Her breathing started to get faster as mind finally processed what was happening. She still stood there frozen on the step, her heart pumping faster and faster every few seconds. She didn't know where the creature was. It could be anywhere, watching her on the steps. She was too afraid to look; she was stuck in that spot frozen like a statue.

She had to know where it was, the ringing was slowly getting louder in her ears and Rosalyn had a feeling her time was running out. She snapped out of her frozen state. Her legs shook in fear a little and she slowly proceeded down the last step of the stairs. She then pushed herself against the wall. It was pitch dark down here except for a little light shining through the nearby windows in the living room –which was on the right side by the main hallway downstairs-, but not enough to see very much.

There used to be a light down here in the hallway. But it had been broken for some time now. Her father had still to fix it.

She inched her way slowly to where the wall she was leaning against ended. She tried to control her breathing as her fingers ran across the wall and made it to the corner where she was going to look out from behind. She then quietly moved her body to that position right against the corner of the wall.

She held her breath as she peeked over the corner into the dining room. She scanned the area with her eyes, looking for any sign of movement or the creature itself.

Nothing was there.

She exhaled the air she had been holding in from the anxiety of something maybe being in there. She felt quite relieved about nothing being there. She then turned her attention to the archway in the dining room. Behind that was the kitchen. She strained her eyes to look in the almost pitch black kitchen, she hoped there wouldn't be anything in there either.

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness a little more, making it better to see. All of a sudden her breathing hitched and she pulled back from the corner. She pushed her body against the side of the wall, almost as if trying to make herself unseen.

That creature was there. That tall, thin, pale, and faceless creature (Or man. She wasn't quite sure anymore. It looked like a man.) was right outside, staring into the window in the kitchen. That creature, man or whatever it was had followed her. It wasn't going to leave her alone. She didn't know if he had seen her or not, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

She dashed back up the stairs in a blind ferocity, trying to get away as fast as possible. In her haste she tripped on a step, and fell making a loud thud as she hit the stairs on her descent. Her face had a worried look expressed on it. If that thing hadn't seen her before, it surly had heard her now!

She fumbled up the stairs again in haste, this time not trying to be quiet as she did so. Now the only thing that mattered is that she could find somewhere to hide before it was too late. She got to the top of the stairs not even bothering to turn on the light as she ran somewhat blindly through the hall.

Luckily she didn't hit anything as she ran. She was almost to her room that was just a little bit more down the hall. Her breathing was getting faster and faster in angst and she was having a hard time controlling it to be able to keep quiet.

She reached the door of her room which was slightly ajar and swung it open-she made sure not to let it hit the wall though-. She looked around promptly trying to find a good place to hide. She couldn't find one. Her room was somewhat bare of things to hide in or behind. All that was there was her bed, closet, and her desk which she could maybe hide behind. This wasn't going to work. What had she been thinking? She normally thought things through before she did them. Was it because of her fright or was that creature somehow messing with her mind? Nevertheless, this had been a foolish idea, although, now that she was upstairs she could hardly hear the static noise that had been ringing in her ears.

Her mind had been going 100 miles per hour in her fright. She hadn't even considered finding a weapon or a means of escape. Her mind was a little bit more focused now though and finding a means to protect herself and/or escaping seemed like a pretty good idea. She didn't know anything about this creature and what weaknesses it had (if any). She'd just have to wish on a lucky star that she could somehow hold her own against him.

She thought about what weapons she would be able to find upstairs here. She had a pocket knife in the drawer of her dark, wooden desk, but other than that there was nothing up there. There was no way she was going to make a run for the kitchen or shed for something sharp. She didn't know exactly where the creature was and last time she tried to outrun him it didn't work that well.

She ran over to her desk. She inched the drawer open and reached around in it trying to find the knife in the vast clutter that was in her drawer. It didn't help that the lights weren't on, but luckily her eyes were adjusted to the darkness.

After moving certain unknown objects around in the drawer, her fingers ran over something cold and metallic. She hastily pulled it out and was relieved to see it was the knife she had been searching for. She grasped it in her right hand and went into a defensive position as she slowly made her way back to the door of her room.

She plunged forward into the dark abyss that was the hallway. The darkness welcomed her, almost as if it was trying to pull her into a void of nothingness. Almost as if it wanted her to disappear forever.

She inched her way forward, still in a defensive pose. She was ready to pounce at any given moment, although she was quite nervous. Her hands shook, and her stomach was all tied up in knots. Oh how she wished this was just a dream.

She was only a few feet from the stairs now. She was quite relieved that nothing had gone wrong yet and that the creature didn't seem to know where she was.

Suddenly as she was about to reach the head of the stairs, the static noise came back full force. She clutched the sides of her head trying to block out the deafening sound. Her vision started to become a little blurry and she felt somewhat dizzy. She leaned on the wall beside her trying to not fall from how lightheaded she felt.

She wasn't going to be able to go down the stairs, that creature was someplace really close. How had he even gotten into her house? Everything was locked, all the doors and windows. Her parents had been sure to close and lock all of them before they left and when Rosalyn had come back from school she hadn't opened anything and if she did she locked it right after.

Dammit! What am I going to do now? She thought. She'd have to find another way to get out of the house without going downstairs since he was right there. Unless, she wanted to kill herself that is. She couldn't think of a safe way to get out of the house from upstairs here and she wasn't sure if she wanted to risk hurting herself by trying. The only other thing to do seemed to be to call for help.

Too bad she didn't have her phone with her….

She snorted in amusement at that thought. Her mother just had to take away her phone. Out of all the times to get grounded, this had to be the time.

Although luckily there was a phone in her parents' room. It was a landline phone but that didn't matter. It would still hopefully work. Then again, who would actually believe that there was a faceless man trying to kill her? There wasn't any time to dwell on that thought though. If she wanted to get out of here, even if that meant she might be put in an asylum, she'd take the chance.

Her eyesight was getting less and less every few seconds or so. The creature seemed to be getting closer. Rosalyn pushed herself off the wall she had been leaning on and ran back further into the darkened hallway. She reached the other wall in the darkness and started to feel around for a door knob. Her fingers reached around frantically looking for it but to no prevail. She took a few more steps to the right trying to find the illusive doorknob. Suddenly, almost as if by luck, her fingers graced a cold metal doorknob.

She prayed that she had found the correct door to her parent's room. She turned the doorknob and quickly dashed inside the unknown room closing the door and locking it behind her. Out of pure luck she happened to be in the right room.

She didn't dare switch on the light as she dashed forward, trying to avoid objects in the way. In such a rush, she rolled over the bed deciding not to go around. It would have taken too much time. Time she couldn't afford. Her body collided with the soft fabrics. The world spun in circles, just like her mind that was raising havoc from all her mix-matched thoughts. Her thoughts wouldn't match up no matter how much she tried to keep herself calm enough to think rationally. The animal part of her was kicking in on full drive. Flee or die. She was the prey and as such she didn't have time to think rationally. All she could think of was escape.

She tumbled off the opposite side of the bed but was able to place her hands out in front of herself in time to catch her fall. Luckily the collision didn't make much noise except for a quiet thud. She got up onto her knees and reached for the phone that was on the table next to the bed. She picked up the phone off the receiver with haste almost as if she would rip the whole thing off the table by the force of her pull. She lifted the phone to her ear, her finger hovering above the numbers on the receiver about to dial for help. But there was something wrong.

There was no dial tone.

At first she didn't realize it in her rush to call for help. Her fingers pressed the buttons waiting for the ringing sound. But then she realized she couldn't hear anything through the phone.

She stared blankly at the wall, the phone still held up to her ear. "No," She whispered. "no, no not now." Her voice was strained as the words escaped her mouth.

The phone was dead. What was she to do now?

She placed the phone back on the receiver ever so gently. Oh how she wished she could have just slammed it down in her frustration.

There wasn't long to sit and fume with anger the more rational side of her mentioned seeming to actually come through to her even though she was acting as frightened prey. She looked over to the door waiting for it to start shaking and break from the force of the creature trying to let itself in to get her. But that was only what she believed she was going to see any minute now. Truthfully nothing like that was about to happen. It was her fear that was telling her the door would be broken down and she wouldn't be able to escape.

She stood there motionless, trying not to breathe or blink in fear she'd not be ready for an upcoming attack. Her eyes were fixed on the door as if she could see right through it. As if she could see the danger lurking on the other side.

It was then that she realized the truth.

She'd have to make a run for it.

It's the only way she thought to herself.

She pulled her knife back out of her pocket flipping it open. Her fingers ran over the cool metal again pressing gently on the metal, feeling the knife's sharpness as if checking to see if it would cause any damage to anything it came in contact with. Almost as if she was trying to reassure herself that she could protect herself from anything.

It took all her will to move forward back to the door of the room. Part of her mind screamed at her to just stay here and hide or take the change and jump out the window even if it meant hurting herself. She ignored it, but barely. Trying to instead focus on the door in front of her as she hesitantly walked to it.

She grabbed the handle and unlocked the door but didn't turn it the knob. Her fear was grabbing hold of her again. As soon as she turned the knob she couldn't stop until she got to the door and out of the house. No time to look back, no time to look for danger. She breathed in a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before releasing it. A random thought came to her mind. Something to add sarcasm to the situation.

Something that people said as an excuse to do something stupid and dangerous like now. YOLO she thought to herself and ripped the door open.

A gush of air welcomed her as she ran down the hall towards the stairs. As soon as she reached them she wasted no time on the descent. It almost seemed as if she was flying down them in her haste to escape. Like a bird trying to escape its cage.

Once the bottom of the stairs was reached, the front door was in view. This was the part she was most worried about. If she just ran straight for the door she wouldn't be looking in the area surrounding it for the creature. Upstairs the surrounding area was closer together making it easier to look for danger, but down here there was more space and she could not see every room around while focused on the goal. Anything could go wrong here.

Her bare feet collided with the wooden floor, her breathing rapid, her palms sweaty from anticipation and anxiety. She put on an extra burst of speed at the sight of her goal. She could almost taste the sweetness of freedom coming from behind it.

Halfway there she felt this wave of a presence behind her, or so she thought. She wanted to look back. She wanted to reassure herself that nothing was there but she couldn't.

There was no looking back.

She reached the door hastily trying to unlock it. Her fingers fumbled in her haste, but she finally unlocked it.

She ran outside slamming the door behind her, running strait into the death of night. She didn't have a destination as of then, her mind was still trying to comprehend if there was any more danger or not. She ran across the driveway of her house. The gravel underneath her poked at the soles of her feet whenever there was a semi large rock in the way, thus making her have to be careful where she walked. It was tedious work trying to dodge obstacles she couldn't see in the mysterious shadows of the night.

After the great driveway was overcome, Rosalyn suddenly realized how cold it was outside. It was to be expected since it was the season of autumn, but Rosalyn hadn't thought of it.

She rubbed her arms hastily with her hands trying to keep herself warm.

Now what? She couldn't go back inside because it wasn't safe. For all she knew though it was not safe out here either being so close to the house. She dare not go to any of the neighbors for help. The creature could be watching….

So what then? Walk to the police station? It was all she could think of.

She looked back at the house once more. It looked dangerous in the faint light of the night. The windows glistened in the light looking like sharp teeth ready to tear into any trespassers. It looked like a monster.

She looked away hastily, not wanting to be reminded of what had just happened. She began to run down the sidewalk by the road making a hasty retreat into the darkness.


	6. Going Back to the Monster of a House

AN: You guys seemed to really like last chapter! Thank you for the reviews of it. I hope I can continue to make this story interesting for you guys. So again, thank you for the reviews! They keep me motivated and helps me improve with all the input and constructive criticism I get. =)

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The coffee felt good going down her dry throat. It felt like the best thing in the world right now, especially after last night.

Rosalyn sat in the dining room. A blanket wrapped over her, sipping her coffee slowly. She needed the warm drink desperately right now. She needed to stay awake. After last night she didn't want to fall into the snare of sleep, no matter how much she did want to be able to rest for a few hours.

Last night after her escape from the house she luckily didn't have to travel far. A truck had come down the road as her shivering form ran down the sidewalk. It stopped with a slam on the brakes as its lights landed on her. The driver had dashed out towards her. At first Rosalyn hadn't known who it was. Her eyes had been dazzled by the bright light of the truck. After such a long while in the darkness of the night being blinded with light felt like the sun had risen, using its rays to burn her eyes.

When she finally was able to see who it was it had surprised her. It had almost felt like luck when she realized the weird blob of a figure in front of her made by her blinded eyes was actually her father.

Obviously her father was wondering what she was doing out this late running with no shoes on. Rosalyn was unsure of how to answer his question. She wanted to tell him everything, the complete truth, but a part of her knew he'd think she was insane. So she settled with confessing half of the truth.

"I heard someone in the house. I tried to call for help but the phone went dead so I ran for help. Didn't go to the neighbors though because I didn't want whoever it was inside to know and come after me." It wasn't the total truth, Rosalyn knew this more than anyone as the words escaped her mouth, but there was this small voice inside her head that told her if she said the truth she wouldn't just be thought of as insane, but that terrible things would happen to those she involved.

But it seemed that Rosalyn's explanation worked. Her father was mostly convinced of what she said surprisingly.

Perhaps it was because of how awful his daughter looked at the moment. Her long hair was a mess. It was tangled in knots at places and so very disorderly. It looked like she'd not combed it in days as it swayed back and forth in the light breeze, many strands of it sticking to the front of her face, covering her mouth and eyes. Rosalyn tried to push them back so she could see again. She looked exhausted. She was still breathing hard even though she'd stopped running for a few minutes already and she was wearing no shoes and a short sleeved shirt in the chilling autumn night.

Rosalyn's father urged her to get into his car. Rosalyn didn't have to be told twice all things considered she was freezing.

Her father had insisted they go back to the house. Rosalyn tried to talk him out of it but he would change his mind. He'd said that if the person saw the car coming they'd try to run instead of fight so it would be perfectly safe for them to enter the house once more.

Rosalyn wasn't exactly fond of this notion. She wasn't going to believe that the creature would just leave if they walked through the front door. But there wasn't any other choice but to go home. There'd be no way to change her dad's mind about it either. Stubbornness ran in the family, especially on her mother's side.

When they had gotten there Rosalyn wouldn't leave the truck. Her fingers had clutched onto the seat, her nails digging into the soft fabric. There was no way she'd go in there again. At least not now that is.

Her father hadn't complained though. He'd gotten out of the truck and walked up the door without looking back.

Rosalyn had felt a little guilty as her father entered the house alone. She should be there with him. This was her problem, not his. Even if she wanted to run after him though, her body wouldn't comply with her. So she just sat there, waiting…

The creature had left. Even though her father had not seen anyone in the house it had taken him a while to coax Rosalyn from her safe haven in the truck.

After 5 minutes of pleading she had entered the house. She'd then helped her father look around for any evidence of an intruder. Her father, thinking the person that broke in was a burglar, checked all valuables in the house. Nothing had been stolen though.

They had then called the police to report the intrusion, although, the police only filled out a form of a break-in at their house, nothing more. They simply could not do anything more considering that nothing had been stolen and Rosalyn had told them it had been too dark to see the intruder. They had no leads all things considered. They'd told Rosalyn's father to call them if anyone broke in again or if anything was stolen.

Rosalyn's father had been somewhat upset at this. He'd wish that the police would do something more than just note that there had been a break-in, but he soon calmed down after a while.

Rosalyn had no thoughts on the subject. She was still on edge from the events of the evening and it just flew right through her mind. She instead focused on making some coffee in the kitchen to keep herself from becoming too anxious.

Her mother had arrived home then. She wasn't too pleased when she heard the news of what had happened. Although this time she didn't rush over to Rosalyn and ask if she was ok. This was to be expected. Last time when Rosalyn had hurt her head she had been surprised that her mother had been so anxious and worried. Not to say that her mother never worried over Rosalyn, but she just wasn't always the most motherly like she had been that one night. It was just how her mother was.

No one had gotten any sleep that night, or hardly any. It was now 3:00 am as Rosalyn sat in the dining room drinking her coffee, her mind still going over everything that had happened last night. She hadn't yet gone to bed and she wasn't about to anytime soon.

Her father sat across from her, just like he always did. A coffee mug was by his side, although, it lay untouched as of right now which was somewhat surprising considering how much he loved coffee.

Both Rosalyn and her father were quiet. Her father stared at a wall blankly. Rosalyn could tell he was thinking hard about something. Most likely the break-in. She stared at him intently, her own mind whirring with thoughts.

They were the only two awake yet. Her mother had gone to bed around two hours earlier. She was always quite tired after work. So was her father, although she knew he wouldn't be able to go to sleep since he still had too much on his mind. This was a common occurrence for him.

Suddenly Rosalyn coughed intensely. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Her coughing had startled her dad out of his blank state. He now stared at his daughter.

Rosalyn was still coughing. One hand covered her mouth with her blanket while the other held her coffee. She tried to heave in air to fill her lungs from all that coughing but as soon as she did she began to cough again.

Her father stood up and walked over to her. He patted her on the back repeatedly, not exactly sure if she had choked on her drink or if she was just having a random coughing fit.

Her coughing subsided after a few more coughs. She looked over to her father. "Thanks dad." Her voice was rough and weak. Her chest was aching from all that coughing and her throat was dry.

"You should really get to bed honey. You've got school in a few hours, don't forget. And I don't want you to get sick." Her father said as the protective father he was. His left hand ran circles on her back soothingly trying to get her to relax.

Rosalyn swallowed before she answered, trying to moisten her throat so it would feel dry anymore. "You're right dad. But I don't know if I'll be able to sleep after last night."

Her father smiled down at her. "Honey, you don't need to worry, I'll be close by your room. I'll hear if anyone comes in. Trust me." He hoped he'd be able to reassure his daughter.

Rosalyn wasn't exactly reassured by his words. "Okay, goodnight then." She got up and headed upstairs. Either way she would have most likely fallen asleep, either in her bed or on the floor downstairs since she was so tired. There was no way she'd be likely to stop it. She needed her sleep. If not because she was tired, it was since she felt sickness coming on and she needed to rest for the sake of not getting sick.

But there was one thing she was certain of, she wouldn't go to bed without a knife under her pillow from now on.


	7. The Sickness Worsens

Everything around her was dark. She didn't know where she was. She just stood there, looking at nothing except blackness.  
Everything was also quiet. No sound to be heard. Rosalyn blinked. As if trying to change the darkness to light just by closing her eyes. It didn't work.

She didn't know what to do except stare into the never-ending darkness.

It stayed that way for a long time. Nothing moved except for Rosalyn's chest rising and falling from her breathing and her eyes blinking every so often.

That is until she started to hear that hellish static sound.

She knew exactly what it was when she heard it. It rang in her ears like an annoying friend who wouldn't stop talking.

The creature was here.

She had to run.

Run as fast as she could.

She needed to escape the darkness.

She ran with ferocity blindly into the uncontrollable void of darkness. She didn't know where she was going or how long she had been running but the static wouldn't leave her ears.

She then felt something grab her arm.

One of the monster's tendrils had latched onto her pulling her back. She screamed, trying to wriggle out from the creature's grasp. Her head was pounding, her eyesight going blurry. Was this the end?

She lashed out at the tendril. Thrashing, hitting, scratching in desperation until it let go of her. She ran forward again trying to escape.  
She spotted something in the distance. Light. A place with light.

She ran strait to it. She was inside the light now. She could see it dance around her fingertips as if it was welcoming her like an old friend. It could keep her safe from the darkness, she was sure of it. But then something grabbed onto her leg, pulling her back with such force it made her fall to the floor. She screamed again, a bloodcurdling scream as she tried to kick her way free. But the creature would not let her go. Instead it pulled her backwards again.

She clawed at the floor in front of her, trying desperately to grab onto something, anything. There was nothing to grab on to. She was acting like an insane person. Thrashing everywhere, tears streaming down her face while screaming "No!" over and over. She was going into hysteria.

The creature was pulling her out of the light. She could feel its delight at this running through her. It liked to cause her suffering.  
She screamed once more as the creature pulled her back into the darkness.

Rosalyn woke up with a start. She jerked strait up into a sitting position, her eyes wide, her breathing hitched. She had that nightmare again. It was the fourth time this week.

It had started that night after the encounter in her house with the creature. All things considered, she hadn't been able to get a very good night sleep since then because of this nightmare and that was taking a toll on her health. The coughing hadn't subsided. To her, she was pretty sure it had actually gotten worse.

Then there were the nosebleeds. They came at random times, normally after a coughing fit. Other than that though, she felt fine.

Rosalyn rubbed her eyes, trying to make the blurriness go away as she got out of bed. She fumbled around a little, her eyes still a little blurry as she walked to her desk. She squinted her eyes as she looked at the clock on the desk trying to make out the time.

"What no, it can't be that time already," Rosalyn was astonished. Was she seeing this right?

The blurriness went away fully after a few more seconds of rapid blinking. She checked the clock again to make sure her eyes hadn't fooled her.  
"Shit, I'm late…." Rosalyn took no time rushing over to her closet and pulled out a random t-shirt and pants and then put on her grey hoodie. She didn't even bother to pick up the other clothes strewn from the closet in her haste. She was late for school. No time to waste.

At school Rosalyn could hardly pay attention to her teachers as they babbled on about whatever. Her mind was fully focused on the dream she had for the past few days.

It was a weird sort of dream. Something you swear was real but wasn't. Like you were actually there, living it for yourself. In a way Rosalyn had a feeling that this dream wasn't just a nightmare happening randomly, she had a feeling it meant something. If she was just having the dream because of all the horror she'd went through since the first encounter then why wouldn't the dreams start until now? Wouldn't they have started after her first encounter with the creature? It seemed highly likely that she was having this dream for a different reason.

What if somehow the creature was able to mess with her mind? This was though Rosalyn hadn't been sure if to take it serious or not. How the hell could it manage to do that anyway?

"Rosalyn, what is the answer to my question? Hello? Rosalyn!" Her teacher's voice suddenly filled Rosalyn's mind. She'd been too preoccupied to hear it earlier. She darted her eyes away from the white wall of the classroom she had been staring at in her concentration and turned them to her teacher.

"Uh….What?" Rosalyn asked dumbly.

Some kids in the classroom laughed at her comment. Her teacher on the other hand seemed to be annoyed if her expression was anything to go by.

"Answer my question. Or are you too busy daydreaming?" Her teacher said with venom seeping in her words.

Rosalyn just stared at her trying to think about what to say to her teacher's snotty remark. Rosalyn honestly didn't know the answer. Then again, she hadn't even heard the question asked so how could she? It looked like Mrs. Colton wasn't going to give Rosalyn any hints about what she asked either.

Rosalyn tried looking at the board for help with the answer, but there was hardly anything written on it with the chalk and none of it helped her find the answer.

"I have no idea what the answer is." Rosalyn deadpanned.

Mrs. Colton scowled at her but didn't say another word and moved on with teaching her class. Rosalyn could feel some of the other student's eyes on her. They most likely thought she was stupid or something.

After her classes were over, Rosalyn instead of heading out of school as soon as she could went over to her locker. She opened it up and started to dig around all the objects searching for a specific one. It took a while, but finally a blue notebook was pulled out of the clutter. It was exactly what Rosalyn had been looking for.

She felt the smooth cover gracefully with her fingers before she flipped to the first page. It was an empty page. She checked the rest. All of them were empty of any writing. Perfect. This was what Rosalyn had been hoping for: a blank notebook to use. That way she could write down the strange dream she kept on having and try to find a reason for it. She smiled, happy with her finding. She then looked up and promptly closed her locker door.

"Hey Rosie!"

Rosalyn jumped at the sound of the voice, startled by it.

"Holy shit, don't do that to me! You freaking scared me, don't sneak up on me like that!" Rosalyn chirped angrily.

Anna was standing right next to Rosalyn's locker. She'd been behind the door when it was open, obviously trying not to be seen by her unsuspecting victim. When Rosalyn had closed the locker door, she'd freaked out seeing Anna behind it.

Anna giggled, obviously amused by her deed. "Sorry," She paused her speaking for a moment as Rosalyn recovered from her scare. "I haven't seen you for a while, so I thought I'd come over and check on you. I heard from someone that there was a burglary at your house a few days ago."

Rosalyn shifted her weight uncomfortably from foot to foot unsure of what to say. "Yeah, there was a break-in at my house. Nothing was stolen though." Her tone seemed kind of sad as she said this. Rosalyn didn't notice her change in tone but Anna did.

The pair stayed quiet for a while. Anna was unsure of what to say next. She didn't want to bring up bad memories for Rosalyn but at the same time she wanted to know what had happened. Rosalyn on the other hand was staying quiet because she wanted to see Anna's reaction to what she had said and if she was going to pry deeper for information.

"Did you ever see the culprit? Because Rosalyn, you seem pretty upset about that night when you just spoke about it." Anna's voice seemed honestly concerned, but it also had a stern tone hidden in it. Like Anna knew something more than just the robbery was upsetting Rosalyn. Most people might not have noticed how Rosalyn had been acting more melancholy and skittish; even Rosalyn hadn't noticed it. She thought she had hidden her emotions from people. It looked like she was actually wearing her feelings on her sleeve instead if Anna could pick up her emotions that easily. Then again, Anna and Rosalyn had been friends ever since the first day of high school, so they had a lot of history together. Plus as friends, they could normally tell when one of them was not happy.

Rosalyn leaned against her locker, her head swimming a little. She didn't want to lie, she hated lying. She used to do it all the time when she was younger to make friends or to impress her parents until she realized that you can't get friends that way or love. She hated feeling guilty. Every lie told made the hole deeper and deeper and sooner or later she'd have to confess or get stuck and wouldn't be able to crawl out again.

"No, I didn't see anyone. Half of the time I wasn't sure where he was. Sometimes I could hear how close he was though." Rosalyn hadn't noticed her mistake. First she had said she hadn't seen anyone but then she said the person was a male. Anna was suspicious. How could she have known if she hadn't seen him? Yes, she did say she heard him but burglars didn't normally talk while robbing houses.

But Anna decided to let it go. It was better not to pressure Rosie at this time. She wasn't going to just drop snooping around for more information though. When Rosalyn was in a better mood, she'd be asking her questions again. Anna was a very stubborn person when it came to helping her friends. She wouldn't let this go until she knew everything.

"Oh, okay," Anna decided it was then best to change the subject. "Did you hear about party that going to happen this week? I think it'll be awesome especially since all the jocks are going to be there. I'm pretty sure I could find a way for us to get invited. I just need to….."

Anna kept going on and on. Rosalyn had her thoughts on other things. She didn't feel too good right now. Kind of nauseous….

Anna stopped mid-sentence to look at Rosalyn after she realized her friends wasn't paying attention. Rosalyn was grimacing, a pained expression on her face. "Rosie are you okay?" Anna clutched her school books in her hands tighter, obviously worried.

"I…I'm fine." Rosalyn said weakly. It took her a while to say all the words; her mind was more focused on the massive headache that just exploded in her head. She bit her lip from the pain.

Anna reached out her right hand and touched Rosalyn's forehead.

"Oh gosh Rosie, you're burning up!" She frowned at this. "I think you have a fever."

Rosalyn didn't answer. Instead she pushed off the locker and stood, her head drooped, her arms hugging the notebook lying on her chest.

"I'll take you home. Good thing I brought my car today." Anna took Rosalyn's hand and pulled her along to the parking lot. There they found Anna's car: an old blue Chevy. They were about to drive off, but Rosalyn quickly jumped out of her seat and promptly threw up on the grass behind the car. Now that her stomach was empty, Rosalyn felt much better, but her head was still pounding and she still had a fever.

No one spoke a word through the drive to Rosalyn's house. Rosalyn hadn't felt like talking. She had felt really drowsy during the ride.  
When they reached Rosalyn's house, her mother was the one to answer the door. She ushered Rosalyn and Anna inside and brought them into the dining room. Rosalyn slumped into the nearest chair with a bang. She literally just let herself fall onto it.

Anna left shortly after that. Now that her good friend was home she didn't have to worry. Anna had said a quick goodbye and then walked quickly out of the house.

Rosalyn stayed in her seat hardly moving. A cold rag was on her head trying to cool her down. It wasn't helping much. She honestly should have gone upstairs to rest but she waited down here anyway. Her mother was making lunch and since Rosalyn had emptied her stomach earlier from feeling queasy, she was terribly hungry. For lunch they were originally going to have chicken and spaghetti, but since Rosalyn was sick, her mother was making soup instead.

Her mother moved with such grace in the kitchen. Getting all the ingredients was a breeze. She knew where everything was and in a few quick movements, she had snatched the item up and was heading back to make it part of the soup.

This recipe was from Rosalyn's grandmother in France. It was something her mother had learned from her mother before she came over to the United States to go to college. Rosalyn had never met her grandparents in France. Her mother wasn't very close to them, hence the reason why she came over to the states.

Nevertheless, Rosalyn's mother even though she never talked about her family back in her native country at least hadn't lost any of her ways by coming to the states. Her mother could speak English quite nicely. Years of staying in the states made her accent not as thick as when she had first come to the states, but it was definitely still there. It got thicker when she was angry though. Sometimes Rosalyn could hardly understand her mother when her mouth kept on spewing out English words with a thick French accent mixed with random French words.

Her mother's assaults with French normally happened when she was in the kitchen. Mainly if she had messed something up like the veggies getting too mushy or burning toast. It was humorous to watch her yell at toast as she threw it into the trash most of the time but as of now Rosalyn wasn't paying attention to her mother yelling in the kitchen as some chopped veggies fell to the floor.

Soon the soup was done. Rosalyn ate wholeheartedly even though she could hardly see straight. Afterwards, she felt much better. The headache and fever remained though.

Rosalyn went upstairs into her bedroom. She dropped her book bags and etc from school by her bed but she held onto the blue notebook. She crawled into bed making herself comfortable. She took a pen from her pocket and started to write in the notebook.

Although she hardly felt well enough to write she wouldn't allow herself to stop. She feared if she didn't write what was in her head now she would forget it when she was better. It took a while to write down the dream. Her hand was somewhat shaky and her writing suffered for it. At least Rosalyn could somewhat read what she had written.

She then dropped the note book by her school supplies and placed the covers over her body as she got comfortable.

As soon as she was better, she'd try to figure things out.


	8. A Picture is worth a Thousand Words

A few days had gone past. Rosalyn's sickness was better but she still had random nosebleeds. Although this was an uncommon thing for Rosalyn to normally have. But she rather have that instead of a fever.

During those days Rosalyn had been very skittish. Since she had been sick, if the creature ever attacked again how could she had defended herself? Honestly just thinking of the possibilities and something like that happening made Rosalyn sick to her stomach.

Although no sightings had happened that week, Rosalyn's fear wasn't going away. It was the waiting that did it for her. Never knowing when another strike was coming. Waiting and waiting, wondering if your life was going to be taken or not.

It wouldn't have been so bad if she could have told someone about her troubles. At least then she knew that she'd be able to at least lift some of the burden off of her back and not be as worried; at least that's what she thought would happen. She knew though that involving friends or family could be dangerous.

The sun had just started to come up. Rosalyn was sitting on the porch on the back of her house. It was quite frigid outside. Frost could still be seen on the moist grass and there was a slight wind blowing. Rosalyn didn't really mind the cold. She'd been inside for the longest time and much rather be outside. Everyone else in her family was still asleep.

Rosalyn pulled her legs to her chest as she sat on the porch. The wooden beams beneath her were cold to the touch but she wasn't really paying attention to the numbing cold. Her mind was in a flux for thousandth time this week. She kept having the same dream everyday since that night. She honestly believed that something was going on because of it. Somehow the same dream kept coming up. That wasn't supposed to happen was it?

She was certain that she was having the dreams on purpose. And not only that but the sickness as well. Rosalyn wasn't one to get sick a lot. And having some of the same symptoms that she had from the first encounter in the woods and then having them again with more sickness was enough for her to question if something worse was happening than what she first thought.

She'd written all of her thoughts so far in that blue notebook. She kept reading it over and over, as if she could figure out everything just by looking at the page. The more she kept reading it over, the more she felt like she couldn't understand it. Honestly the whole thing seemed insane. A monster that could make you sick and make you have nightmares? How could she even try to make that sound reasonable?

She needed some way to get proof. No one would believe her if she told them. She would have to show them so they would believe.

She though about different ways for get the proof she needed but each idea turned out to not work. She was starting to get flustered. She needed an idea and she needed it now. Her life might depend on it.

In anger she got up and stomped back inside the house. She entered the kitchen, her mouth pulled into a frown of disapproval. Today was starting out to be a bad day.

She decided to eat breakfast since she hadn't already. She pulled out a box of cereal from the cupboard and got herself a bowl and a spoon. She filled up the bowl with the cereal and then went to the fridge to get the milk. She then brought both to the table in the dining room and sat down.

She poured the milk slowly into the bowl of uninteresting cereal hardly paying much attention to how much she poured in.  
After placing the mink down again she picked up her spoon. She looked at the bowl in front of her. The uninteresting soggy cereal stared back at her. Her stomach twisted in a knot. She really didn't feel like eating anything. Her mind was too anxious and it was causing her to feel somewhat nauseous.

She needed to get this off her mind. She wouldn't stop thinking about it until she had an almost perfect plan since she could be quite the perfectionist. She rubbed circles with a finger on the spoon in her hand while trying to think again but her mind was blank of ideas.

Fiercely she bashed her hand down on the table in frustration. Some milk in her bowl spewed out from the tremor all over the table by the bowl. Her spoon had flown out of her hand and to the floor. Rosalyn just stared at the table, not doing anything. Her hand was still clenched in a fist. She kept squeezing her fingers, making her knuckles start to turn red. Her nails dug into her flesh, piercing it like a knife but she didn't care.

She suddenly got up and walked out of the room, not even bothering to pick up the spoon on the floor or anything else. She strode into the living room and started to pace back and forth trying to think again. Although the more she tried, the more she got frustrated.

Rosalyn huffed angrily. She needed to hit something….or break something to get rid of this anger. This was a normal thing for her to do. If she was in a situation that she couldn't figure out what to do, she'd lose her temper from impatience. It was something she regrettably inherited from her mother.

She looked around the room in blind ferocity, looking for something, anything to release her anger on. Her eyes randomly focused on an object on the coffee table. She rushed over to it, ready to release all of her anger on this seemingly unknown object, her mind blurred out in any other feelings but anger and frustration.

As she neared the table, she raised her hand behind her, ready to smack the object across the room with one swift motion. It soon came into range and she started to propel her hand downward aiming right for it. She wanted to feel the satisfaction of actually being able to do something. To be able to once be in control of things since this whole incident had started. Her face was etched with determination, as her hand kept getting closer and closer to her target.

In her anger, it seemed almost as if she couldn't see straight. It was like her anger had taken control and she had no power over her own body. She honestly had no idea what she was about to hit. Her mind was in a total different place. A place filled with frustration and desperation.

But as her hand was about to hit the object, she snapped out of her haze. Her mind became focused on what exactly she was doing and what was about to happen. It was like she had just been pulled back into consciousness. She gasped and pulled her hand away from its course as it was just inches from colliding with the object.

She stared perplexed into space, her mind trying to wrap around what was going on. Everything was silent. Rosalyn brows were furrowed, a confused look on her face. It stayed that way for a moment. The silence engulfing everything as Rosalyn tried to let the rest of her anger subside. It soon passed. She started to gasp for oxygen, her mouth open, trying to suck in more air as she came out of her daze fully. Luckily she had stopped herself just in time. Who knows what would have happened.

She looked down at the object on the table again, this time with more clarity actually now being able to tell what it was. It was her mother's digital camera.

She picked it up, her finger grasping around the edges of it, running along the cool grey metal.

'What is this doing down here?' She wondered to herself. Her mother only really used it when her family went on vacations or for special occasions. Normally it was on her mother's desk upstairs in the spare room which was converted into an office. Who had brought it down here?

She eyed its grey body with keen eyes, turning it around once she was done inspecting one side. She turned on the camera. No pictures were in its database. Maybe her mother had downloaded them all to her computer and just forgot to put it away again? It seemed logical.

She stared at it some more, but not really paying attention. She was too busy thinking again.

It was quiet again for a minute or so, Rosalyn again deep in thought although this time she wasn't as frustrated. The camera was still in her hand, still showing the black screen with the words 'No data' on it in a white text.

"I got it," Rosalyn suddenly blurted out after a minute. "It is the exact kind of plan I was trying to come up with." Her finger started to grip the camera tighter as a smile spread across her face.

She was going to use the camera to her advantage. This was just what she needed! A picture of the creature. With this kind of evidence people would be sure to believe her right? She'd just have to "borrow" her mom's camera for a while. Rosalyn was sure she wouldn't notice anyway…

Rosalyn turned her eyes to the camera again her eyes fixated on the lower right side screen. Perfect, the battery was still full. Just what she was hoping for.

Now she just needed to put her plan into action.


	9. Need a Photographer?

Rosalyn hadn't predicted this. Sure, she knew it would have to happen eventually, but she hadn't thought that it would happen like this at all. She had just expected it to be simple and over with completely, not made into a big deal like it somehow was now.

Everything was cheerful. The bubbly conversations, the laughter of her friends and the happy glow illuminating on their faces. Although not entirely cheerful over the predicament she had missed this- well, in this case, she had missed them.

Rosalyn had finally made up with her friends, Marian and Jade. The whole group was back together now. Her friends had deemed this worthy of celebration. Thus this evening was to be spent at a local restaurant; much to Rosalyn's embarrassment.

Rosalyn sat by the window, Marian beside her. Across from them sat Anna and Jade. The friends had been catching up on recent activities.

The waiter came and asked them what drinks they wanted. Rosalyn ordered a coke. While waiting for her friends to finish ordering, Rosalyn glanced out the window; something she'd been doing obsessively since she had got here. Ever since the occurrence in her house she had been paranoid about the creature. Even more so than before that encounter. She hadn't been able to sleep to a large extent in fear of the creature somewhere nearby. She also lost concentration because of her paranoia.

The topics consisted of normal everyday things friends would go on about. Rosalyn tried to pay attention, but her mind was still elsewhere.

Jade droned on. Rosalyn took a quick glance out the window again.

Still Nothing.

"Rosie, are you listening to me?" Jade interrupted Rosalyn's train of thought. Jade's face held confusion as if bewildered that Rosalyn wasn't paying attention to her.

It took Rosalyn a moment to respond, her mind didn't fully comprehend since it was still focused on looking for any sign of the creature. "Oh uh, yeah. I'm listening." She blabbered, slightly embarrassed.

Rosalyn couldn't tell if Jade was agitated or content about Rosalyn's answer. "It didn't look like it. I saw you staring out that window again. You've done it a few times already. What's up?"

Rosalyn was unsure of what to say. "She's probably watching for a guy," Marian teased. "Rosie's finally in love and now she can't keep him off her mind."

"You're probably right Marian. What else could it be than that?" Jade piped in.

"Guys, that's not even close. I don't like anyone. Besides, I'm just looking out the window at nothing in particular. It's just distracting."

"Right, Rosalyn. That parking lot and the neighboring building are so distracting. Come on, we know you're just daydreaming about your new man." Anna said joining in the teasing. "As if." Rosalyn denied her voice filled with no humor. That got her friends laughing.

She laughed along, feeling more confident. Perhaps she was being too fearful. She should relax a bit more. It might be beneficial.

The waiter had come back with their drinks. Rosalyn said a quick thank you to the waiter as her drink was placed in front of her. She reached over and took a sip of the drink, trying to keep herself preoccupied.

"So, I decided to finally get my grades up and study some more," Jade continued the conversation from before.

"Really? Good for you." Marian piped in while taking sips of her drink.

"Yeah, I need to start focusing on what's ahead in my life." Jade contemplated.

"Ha, at least you know what to do with your life."

Rosalyn swirled her straw in her glass with her thumb and index finger, not really paying attention again. Realizing what she was doing, she gingerly tried to jump into the conversation.

"Uh, yeah. Same here." She said at an awkward pace.

Marian looked puzzled. "Really Rosie? You out of all people are doing badly in school? You're the one that normally gets higher grades."

Rosalyn snickered. "And by that you mean I normally get B's. Come on, I'm not a genius or anything like that. I struggle to keep my grades up too. Just recently it's been more of a hassle." Rosalyn cast her eyes down, looking back at her drink.

"What? How come? For sure I thought your mom would be down your throat by now if your grades were getting low." Jade questioned.

Rosalyn was unsure of how to correctly answer her question. What would suffice as an answer? So many horrible things were going on in her life. It was really no wonder she couldn't keep up with grades out of all things. She decided to play it cool. "Ha, yeah my mom would do that. I don't think she's noticed though," Rosalyn laughed nervously. "Anyway yeah, I haven't been getting much sleep lately. That's probably the reason why." She shrugged as if trying to say she was unsure.

"Sheeh Rosie, how do you plan on staying healthy if you don't get any rest? You were already sick recently. No need to make it worse." Anna scolded.

"Yeah, why are you even having problems sleeping anyway?" Marian quickly added.

"Nightmares." Was all Rosalyn replied with. She didn't think she needed to broaden it any further than that.  
Her friends seemed to sense her reluctance and were unsure of how to proceed. Luckily Jade got the hint and smoothly changed the subject to more casual banter.

Rosalyn was relieved at the change of subject again and relaxed quite a bit afterwards. Her mind got too worked up when her thoughts wondered to things related to the Creature and rightfully so.

To keep busy she took another sip of her drink slowly savoring it. She considered succumbing to the sensation to look out the window again. Surely she was fine here with her friends and putting her mind to rest with that thought would help make the night more enjoyable. So she did.

At first she noticed nothing new from when she had surveyed the last time. The night was as quiet as ever. Not very much nightlife to be seen as was such in a town as this. Then she saw it. The creature. It was quite far down the road, back to where the tree line was.

She jumped out of fright, her drink fumbling out of her hands and splattering onto the table. Anna gasping in surprise at the spilled drink.

Once Rosalyn realized what she had done she tried to control the flow of the liquid from gushing off the table. Her mind was too frazzled working overboard as it kicked into survival mode. Her hands shook and she couldn't see strait.

"Whoa there Rosie, you okay?" Jade questioned while trying to keep her amused laughter under control at the sight of Rosalyn's accidental spilled drink.

Rosalyn didn't answer straight away. Her mind couldn't focus on all the things happening at once. Anna seeing Rosalyn's distress grabbed a couple of napkins from the bin and started to help wipe the table off.

Soon everything was cleaned up. Rosalyn noticed her friends' eyes watching her expectantly. "I'm going to go to the restroom and get cleaned up." Was all she could say. She didn't try to explain herself any more. Marian obliged her and got up from her seat to let Rosalyn slide from the booth.

Rosalyn ripped the door to the restroom open and dashed inside; not caring as it slammed shut behind her. She rushed over to the sink and gripped the porcelain sides for support to keep her balance. Her breathing was frantic even though she was just standing there. Soon it became hard to even breathe. She inhaled but nothing. No air came into her lungs. Her vision started to become blurry as her heart pounded in her ears. She was having a panic attack.

She was out of her mind with fear. It was back. That thing wouldn't leave her alone. She needed to get away from it; she needed help. But no one would believe her. She had wanted evidence, but now she wasn't so sure she could actually go through with that action. She didn't want to have to face the creature again.

She was finally able to control her breathing again. She looked up from the sink and into the handing mirror. Her face was sickly pale and she could feel her stomach twist uncomfortably at the sight. She frowned at her reflection showing her disgust at herself through the mirror. She turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on her face trying to clear her mind.

She couldn't live like this any longer; she couldn't keep this to herself. She needed help. Her friends she didn't want to involve and her family was already under a lot of stress. Who could she trust with this information? Who could help her? She had no answer to that question but one thing was for certain. She needed to get a photo of the creature and use it as proof. She looked in the mirror again, her face still dripping wet from the water running down it. This time her eyes seemed to have a glint to them. Whether it be from bravery or stupidity she couldn't tell. But in just as long as it had taken her to get into the restroom it took her just as quickly to get back out.

She quickly snuck past where her friends were sitting at the booth, taking note that they were still preoccupied with things. Hopefully she would have enough time before her friends started to wonder why it was taking her so long. And if not, then well she would just have to worry about explaining later.

Once outside she searched around for any signs of the creature. She saw nothing out of the ordinary. It seemed to have just vanished. She had sort of expected this. Of course it wouldn't make it too easy of a game to find it. It only ever appeared when it wanted to. She had a feeling she knew where it wanted her to go though. If she wanted to pursue the creature it was going to make things difficult. The woods were her best bet at finding it.

The forest seemed even more menacing than ever as Rosalyn stood before it. She wanted to run back home. With all her being she wanted to, but she needed to do this. She needed to get that evidence.

It was then that she started having second thoughts. Although quite desperate for this evidence was she really willing to do this? It was honestly now or never to get that evidence. That is unless she wanted to go insane from keeping this secret from people and perhaps die. Was she really going to do this until she got that picture? It might kill her. Was this really worth it? To her it was. That idea was pretty much a contract to sign her death but what else was there to do? She couldn't wait forever. It would just get worse and worse from here on out. But she needed to do this, she needed that photo.

Her mind was screaming at her to not do this. She wanted to do as it said but she couldn't. She had to go in there if she wanted any chance of survival. If she just did nothing, she'd most likely die and there was a great chance that if she found the creature in the forest she'd most likely not fare any better either. But she had to take the chance if she wanted to live. She wouldn't just let herself die.

She hesitantly moved one foot forward into the woods. A weight seemed to pull on her, beckoning her to stop and turn back but she disobeyed and pulled the rest of her body into the darkness.

No later as she had done this her fate was sealed. She could feel it. It felt like she was drowning. The oxygen was sucked from her lungs. Water pressure squeezing her body into a pulp. She knew that as she had entered, the creature had noticed her presence. She didn't know how she knew it but she did. It knew she was here.

There was no time to waste. She started to precede forward.

She pulled out the small digital camera from her back pocket and started it up. She needed to be quick for the shot. Her hands were shaking fiercely and she couldn't keep the camera still enough for a decent shot. Her nerves were getting the better of her.

She walked further in silent dread when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She quickly pulled it out. Anna had sent a text about something unimportant at this time.

'Where are you? I just checked in the restroom and you weren't there. Why haven't you come back yet?'

Now wasn't the best time for chatting but Rosalyn needed something to keep her nerves down and also to keep her friend's suspicion from rising in case they went looking for her again. Rosalyn responded. 'I'll be back in a moment Anna. I need to find something.'

Anna responded again almost immediately.

'Like what?'

Rosalyn wasn't sure how to answer. Should she tell her? She might die soon, so what was there really to lose? Besides, she didn't have to tell the whole truth did she?

'I'm trying to find something I lost outside.'

'In the middle of the night? You need any help?' Anna responded rather quickly.

'No thanks, I got it.' Hopefully that was enough to keep Anna at bay for the time being.

Anna sent another text. 'Rosalyn, you've been acting kind of strange lately. What's going on?'

That was it. It was too late now. Anna was suspicious and worried. If Rosalyn didn't die tonight she'd most likely wish she had when Anna got a hold of her.

'Look Anna, I can't tell you. As for my behavior I can't change that considering the consequences. That's all I'm going to say.' Rosalyn then turned off the phone and placed it in her pocket again.

So far since coming into the woods there had been no sign of the creature. Someone might find that relieving but in all honesty, that might not be the best sign. After all, it could be watching from someplace hidden…

She listened closely, trying to hear anything out of place. Nothing. Only the crickets chirping and the rustle of leaves on the trees.

At one point she thought she saw the creature of the corner of her eye. When she looked at the direction she thought it had been in there was nothing. Turning back to look forward was a different story.

She wasn't sure what to do. This was not exactly what she had expected. The creature was just standing there 10 or so feet away, watching her. Should she run? Logical, but what if that's exactly what the creature wanted her to do? She didn't know if it was true but she had a feeling it was.

She started to back up slowly, never taking her eyes off of the creature. Her hands were shaking from fright as she held the camera in both of them. Her breathing was very uneven and she couldn't swallow. Just then she heard the pounding of footsteps coming her way. She couldn't see anyone though as her eyes were fixated on the creature and nothing else. Soon something jumped out from behind the creature. A girl with a white mask on and black hair. Who was she? She didn't have time to figure that out as the mysterious girl then charged for her.

She screamed and as a reflex her hand pressed the capture button on her camera. A bright white flash illuminated the monster and the person charging at her. The girl stopped suddenly as she was blinded by the bright light. Her hands reached up to shield her eyes from further blindness. This gave Rosalyn enough time to react accordingly and she started to retreat.

Running was hard considering how deep she was within the forest. Because of this the trees and shrubbery were thicker and it was tough trying to watch where you're running when you're getting hunted.

Rosalyn was hyperventilating. She couldn't keep herself quiet. She was too frightened. Her mind was in total survival mode. Adrenaline to the max.

She could hear the girl with the mask pursuing her again. She seemed to be gaining on her which wasn't surprising. She could hear his foot falls becoming louder and louder as she approached. She didn't dare look back though as in fear of being caught.

It took a while before Rosalyn could hear the sounds of civilization again. She knew she was close now. It was then that she felt the girl grab her from behind. The girl yanked on her clothes and sent her falling backwards.

She fell on her back with a loud thud, her camera flying out of her hand and onto the ground somewhere nearby. The next thing she knew the masked girl was pinning Rosalyn to the floor using her weight as she leaned on Rosalyn with her upper body. Rosalyn noticed a steel pipe of some sorts in the girl's free hand which was raised and ready to strike. She was able to dislodge the girl before the pipe could collide with her head as it smashed where she had just been.

She looked frantically for the camera and soon found it laying a few feet away. She got up and ran for it but was jumped from behind. They both fell to the ground. She turned on the ground trying to reach for the camera which was within arm's reach. She was just able to grasp it in time before the girl had any time to react. She kicked with her legs trying to throw the girl off of her before the girl had enough time to regain her thoughts enough to get a hold of Rosalyn and pin her arms. After a few tries it worked and she got up quickly and started running again with her camera in hand.

Dashing forward with more adrenaline pumping through her veins she could soon see the light illuminated by the street lights just outside the forest limits. She started to feel relief flooding her as she made it out of the woods and back towards the restaurant.

She didn't stop until she reached the hallway just inside the building. She leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. Her heart was racing, she felt like she was still there in the woods. She hadn't looked back as she had run away from the woods. She took a quick look outside to check if that unknown person was still following her. She couldn't see anyone.

She breathed in air slowly, trying to get her breathing down. She needed to look calm before going back to her friends. No need to make Anna even more suspicious.

It took a minute or so until she could breathe calmly without gasping for more air. She headed back for the booth hoping that no one would be upset or suspicious as to why she took so long to return. As she approached, her friends noticed and turned to look at her. Rosalyn tried to read the emotions expressed on their faces. Jade and Marian seemed to be their cheery selves. Anna on the other hand had a fake smile plastered on her face. Rosalyn could tell. Although Anna was good at hiding her true emotions, Rosalyn, being friends with her for many years, could normally pinpoint when there was something hidden underneath her friend's smile.

Marian got up from her seat and allowed Rosalyn to quickly slip onto her side of the booth by the window. She then sat back down.

Rosalyn stared across the table at Jade and Anna. Anna eyed her carefully, as if trying to pinpoint something different or unusual about her appearance. Rosalyn sat frozen in fear, worried that Anna might notice something strange and that her secret would be blown. But Anna never said anything about her suspicions or asked where Rosalyn really had been.

"Thank God you're back Rosie. You took forever in that bathroom. I was about to go drag you back myself." Jade broke the awkward silence. Apparently Anna had decided to not worry her friends by telling them Rosalyn had been doing other things…

Jade then looked around at all her friends. "Well since we're all here now, let's do this." Jade raised her glass. "A toast, to our friendships being renewed." The four friends held a toast. There glasses came together with a clink. Then the friends took a sip of their sodas. Rosalyn took a sip at her soda. The chilled liquid felt good going down her throat, craving the sensation she took a few more sips before placing the drink back down. As she did so she stole a glance at Anna. She still eyed Rosalyn intently. A look of determination set on her face.

Rosalyn could deal with Anna's suspicion later. For now though, she had bigger things to focus on. She couldn't stop herself from smiling while looking out the window.

This was it. She finally had her photo. What to do with her evidence was a whole other subject though.


	10. Business

The forest seemed more menacing than ever tonight. It wasn't the dark gloomy appearance or atmosphere. No, it was something entirely different. The forest seemed to be pulsating with the surging power of rage. You could feel it rising from its depths, engulfing you and choking you as it surged around.

Someone had made Slenderman mad.

That wasn't the best thing to do. That should have been clear.

His victim had been a fool. She had just made her impending death come a whole lot faster than previously planned.

She had been desperate, he had noticed it once before but had not thought she would do something like that. It was stupid. Something a blinded animal who could not see the danger ahead of them would do. Although, she had been brave for facing him, he'd give her that much. Perhaps there was more to this girl than he had first thought.

Besides the whole new wave of interest concerning the girl, there was now a slight problem. She had a photo. Obviously he knew that her chances of getting anyone to believe her were still quite slim. But there was still a chance nevertheless and if the photo ended up in the wrong hands, his game could be ruined.

Slenderman turned to look at his proxy. She stood before him. Her body were motionless, her gaze staring at him unwavering.

He gazed at Kate. His proxy had failed him. It should have been an easy task but she still managed to fail. That victim was no fighter. She must have had luck on her side to even remotely have had a chance at escape.

Kate said nothing as Slenderman faced his direction. Someone else might have made an excuse or have asked for forgiveness at failing him but Kate was not that kind of person. It would have been a stupid move. Pleasantries would not save her from her master's wrath. So she said nothing.

Slenderman knew what had to be done. That evidence could not get into the wrong hands. This was a number one priority. No, he was not afraid of what human enforcers could do, far from it. They could not really harm him anyway with their stupid excuses for weapons. They were rather annoying though to say the least. He'd rather keep this game a two player instead. Just him and his victim that was how he liked it.

He focused his gaze again at his proxy.

~ Get that evidence. ~ He demanded telepathically. She could pinpoint his anger. There was no messing around when he acted like this. She'd better get a move on.

"Yes master." Kate silently whispered as she dashed into the night.

Her mission was at hand. She would not fail her master again.

* * *

A car drove into the driveway of the house. Rosalyn stepped out quickly, obviously in a rush. She closed the car door silently as to not bring attention to herself from the neighbors or to her parents who most likely were asleep inside. Rosalyn locked the car and walked hastily to the front door. She turned the keys in the lock and opened the door, stepped inside and then shut and locked it again.

It was now around 1:00 am. Rosalyn should have been home a while ago. But as luck would have it, even when she told her friends she had to leave they begged her to stay. Rosalyn gave in considering it was something she did often when it came to making her friends happy. She had stayed for another two hours. She should have left sooner. Her parents would have started to worry about her whereabouts. Yes, she was eighteen, yes she was an adult now, but she still had to abide by their rules and be home by a decent hour.

Hopefully she could sneak upstairs and not be noticed by her parents who may or may not be sleeping.

She quietly snuck upstairs, wincing every time one of her step made a noise. She made it to her room without incident though. Breathing a sigh of relief and she closed the bedroom door behind her she couldn't believe her luck. Her mother was always one for strict discipline but considering her work hours and the mounds of stress she was under, her grip on Rosalyn's actions was not as extreme. Normally her mom would have waiting up for her to come home after curfew and deliver the correct punishment, but Rosalyn thanked whoever was listening for the escape from that occurring.

Rosalyn didn't have much time for idle thoughts. The first thing on her mind was to get that picture downloaded and used as proof.

She rushed over to her desk and booted up the computer hurriedly. In the meantime, she grabbed the camera out of her bag and turned it on. In her haste, Rosalyn hadn't had a chance to inspect her photo. She didn't know how it had come out yet.

Her eyes were met with disappointment and confusion. 'No, no, no! This can't be happening!' She all but screamed in her mind. The picture displayed in front of her was incredibly grainy and distorted. Static filled most of the screen, only allowing some of the actual picture to be seen beneath. If you didn't know what you were looking for, you probably would have never guessed what the picture was actually of. You could barely make out a part of the mask from the unknown assailant and perhaps a bit of the creature's upper body if you looked close enough. That was all that could be seen though.

How could she use this? No one would ever be able to believe her with this! She clenched and unclenched her hand with ferocity. All of that for nothing?

All of that for nothing. She put her life on the line for nothing. Now what was she supposed to do? Forget about the whole thing? No, she couldn't, even if she wanted to.

That had been her last chance. She knew the creature would come for her if the feeling of dread in her chest was anything to go by. No one would believe her now. With no substantial proof, her luck was running out. No one would believe a girl with one stupid photo. It wasn't like she had anything else to go by. Well, she did have that scar…

She brought a hand up to her face and traced the edges of the now scarred scratch on her cheek. This was the only other remnant of any contact from the creature, but what good was it except to remind her of her upcoming demise? Every time she looked in the mirror she would remember that fateful night where her past life had ended.

There really was no escape it seemed.

The login screen appearing on her computer startled her enough to get her to function with the apocalyptic train of thought raging in her mind. She typed in the password and was greeted with her desktop background. Staring blankly at the screen she pondered what to exactly do now. Her hope was lost. What exactly was there to do now? She had no proof and it wasn't like she even knew what was after her. Wait. She didn't know what was after her…

Perhaps there was a way to find out. Of course it was extremely far-fetched but stranger things had happened before.

She knew she wasn't the only person this being had been after. There were those two boys who had gone missing and she just knew it had to be from the fact that they were taken by the creature. There most likely had to have been more victims. And considering the mystery involved in their disappearances, there by all chance had to be some kind of list of other disappearances like it. Although if there was it most likely wasn't listed to the public.

Hmm, she couldn't be the only one out there to have ever seen this creature. There had to be some kind of conspiracy group or myth fanatics that knew about it. There just had to be!

Connecting to the internet and opening up a web browser she started to type in words she would use to describe the creature hoping to see if anything would actually pop up in the search results.

Nothing.

What? No, that can't be. She couldn't be the only one to have ever seen it! She started to search up websites dedicated to mysterious creatures and incidents hoping to find someone with a similar experience. Reading through many of the articles found on these top websites and she still couldn't find anything remotely close to the creature.

That was it. She was done for wasn't she? She was the only one in the world to have ever seen the creature and stayed alive long enough to be able to tell anyone. Either that or she was just going crazy. Maybe all of this was just in her head. Oh how she wished that were true.

But she needed to tell someone who would believe her or at the very least would be able to help her in some way. She needed to spread the word.

Going onto one of the most popular sites of these theorists groups she quickly wrote about the creature and what had been happening to her recently. Just in case she uploaded the photo as well even with it being almost close to useless. Posting this seemed stupid and any person in their right mind wouldn't have done a thing like this but Rosalyn was out of ideas and this was her last cry for help.

Clicking the submit button she hoped that this all wasn't going to be a waste. If she didn't get help and soon, she had no idea how long she could last.

Not waiting for a reply, she started to delete any evidence of her search from her history and computer files. Saving the photo to a thumb drive she unplugged it from the computer and then shut the device down. Taking a chain from a necklace, she linked the thumb drive onto it by its chain and hung it around her neck. She then hid her camera somewhere it in her room. The creature had been in here before, there was no telling if he or his accomplice could hack her computer but she wasn't taking any chances of the accomplice finding her handy work.

Turning off the light she jumped into bed. Not to sleep though, just as a stationed place to keep watch in the darkness without seeming conspicuous. She just knew they'd come for her tonight. She was dreadfully exhausted from the night's ordeal but she forced herself to keep guard.

The minutes dwindled by, the night was as silent as death itself. Sleep pulled at the corners of her eyes but Rosalyn fought to keep her eyes open. She was so tired, so exhausted. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. But she had to take the precaution. For all she knew, tonight could be the end of it all. And she'd be damned if she didn't at least try to fight it off. Coward or not, she knew it had to be done.

* * *

White washed walls surrounded her as she made their way up the stairs. This hadn't been the first time she'd been here. At the top she made their way to the door at the end of the hallway. She wasn't concerned about being seen. She had it all under control.

Opening the door Kate found a darkened room. On the bed they found her master's newest victim passed out. The idiot had exhausted herself to the point of not being able to stay awake anymore. It was a shame. Kate would've loved to put her in her place again.

Although Kate had to give her credit; this time she'd actually tried to hide things from her. She had done a terrible job though. Getting the evidence and exposing of it would be extremely easy.

And she'd never even know what had happened until it was too late.


	11. With Ears to Hear and Eyes to See

It was going to be a boring night. It seemed like it almost always was. Nothing ever happened, well that is nothing interesting. All there was to do was wait for an alert.

Music was playing in the background on a random station while a fan was blowing wind around the room. Two forms sat in the small white room with bright lights glaring down at them. One was sitting in front of a computer screen, his eyes fixated on it while the other sat nearby looking out a glass window at the white hallway outside the room. No one else was to be seen. But that was to be expected. People normally weren't around on the nightshift; except these two that is.

Ah, the nightshift. Truly it was the best job to get stuck with. Especially in their line of work. What else could be more exhilarating than this?

The music on the radio station kept on drowsily blaring. It was more used as background noise than for actual entertainment. Obnoxious pop songs were good at keeping the quiet from settling in it seemed.

The music drowned on for a few more minutes undisturbed until the person at the computer screen broke the silence.

"Joe, I think I found something."

Hearing his name, Joe seemed to come out of a haze that he had been in while looking out that window. The dark haired man slowly pushed himself out of his seat, his ample size giving him a bit of trouble. Shuffling his way over he stood behind the younger male sitting in front of the computer and leaned in to see what was on the screen.

"Can you believe it?" the young man with sandy blond hair asked Joe as he read what was on screen. "Do you really think someone would be that stupid to post that online?"

Joe finished reading what was on the screen before giving his answer.

"Yes, Blake. Someone who is that desperate would do something like that. Did you forget what we're working with here?" Joe pushed his glasses back up.

Blake seemed to not be convinced. "Yeah, maybe. But do you think that this girl's actually seen it? The Slenderman?"

Joe seemed to ponder for a moment. "How else would she have known about him? He doesn't let very many people live once he's taken an interest in them. There would be no other way to get information about him since we make sure of that not happening. You know our line of work. Think about it. You might be a rookie at this job but you know better than that."

Blake looked somewhat insulted at the fact of being called just a rookie. He knew a lot more than this old timer.

"I see…" He accepted the fact that Joe was right and swallowed his pride. "So, what are the protocols now?"

"Oh, right." He seemed to have forgotten about that. "Well," He straightened up, "I want you to track this girl's IP address right away. We need to know where she is located. Time is running out for her and getting in contact with her as soon as possible will give us a likelier chance of catching that monster."

"Right, I'm on it." Blake swiveled his chair to face the computer screen again and get back to work.

Joe on the other hand walked to the other side of the room and picked up the old landline and started dialing a string of numbers. "We found him, boss." You could hear him say when the person on the other side of the line picked up.

* * *

Rosalyn woke up in the morning to sudden dread as she realized she had fallen asleep last night.

The first thing she did was clutch for the thumb drive around her neck.

It wasn't there.

Her panic amplified. She got out of bed and checked the hiding place of her camera. It was also gone.

At this point Rosalyn was at her wit's end. Her breathing was heavy, she couldn't focus her mind. All of her hope was lost.

Then she remembered what she had done online. Practically running to her computer she booted it up and made her way onto that website. Surely they couldn't have found this…

She scrolled down the web page looking for her entry. She couldn't find it. Had it been deleted?

She made a new entry and waited this time for a response. A few minutes later when she went to check for replies she found her post deleted again.

They were on to her tricks. If they could just delete her posts like that there was no way she could get help online. She considered going to the local police but of course they wouldn't believe her. Especially since she had no evidence anymore. They had trapped her, just like a fly in a spider's web.

She slammed her first on the desk. Why, why her? Was she destined to die at the hands of an unknown creature? She sat there on her chair thinking things over, looking at the wall. She didn't know what to do now.

A few minutes later she snapped out of her daze after she realized there was no other course of action expect to continue on with normal life. She couldn't tell anyone she loved about this and risk them getting caught up in it so she just had to pretend everything was alright.

Even though it really wasn't.

As her first course of action of the day at trying to continue with normalcy she decided to check her email. This was something she hadn't done in a while. Her mind had been on more important matters.

She watched as the new emails started to pile up. Scanning through them she could easily pinpoint the ones that were spam and deleted the right away. She was about to delete another spam email subconsciously when she paused for a moment to inspect it further. This didn't seem to be a regular spam email.

The title simply stated that it had something to show of interest. Basic spam lures she was used to seeing. But the sender wasn't shown as a company or anyone who would usually send her spam mail.

She was intrigued by this. Should she open it? Rosalyn had gotten in trouble with her curiosity before. The last time she had opened an email like this she had gotten pretty nasty virus on her computer. Was the risk worth it?

Without further debate she decided to open the email before she could change her mind. She started to read. What she found inside surprised her. After reading it over once she had to read it over a few more times just to grasp what she had just read.

Someone had messaged her giving her information on the creature.

Was this for real?

The email mainly consisted of basic information regarding the creature. It went over its likely motives and hunting habits. It also mentioned a name; "The Slenderman". Rosalyn assumed that was the creature's name. It was very fitting.

The person who had written the message also noted that they were a part of an organization who dealt with the capture of these sorts of creatures and that they had been after the Slenderman for years. The writer warned about telling others the information found in this email and that Rosalyn should discard this email after reading it for safety reasons. They also said at the end of the message that they would be in contact again soon.

She couldn't believe this.

This was the answer she had been in hopes of for months.

Someone actually had answers for her.

In her excitement in this new revelation, she tried searching for "Slenderman" online but nothing showed. The only thing she probably succeeded in was giving her computer a virus. She then decided to take the person's advice and delete the email and her browser history again.

Whoever this person was, they were very good at keeping things under wraps.

Rosalyn's mood had improved a bit if only because her heart was filled with a little bit more hope than before. She wasn't in this alone anymore. With help perhaps she could get through this. And just thinking about it made her feel like her chances of getting out of this alive were a little bit better.

She got from her chair. She had to move on with the rest of her day. First off were chores.

Of course changing from an extreme to something normal was a welcomed change. If anything having a little bit of normalcy in her life was the one thing that kept her from going insane.

Going downstairs she collected the trash bag and went into the backyard, wanting to put the trash out in the trashcan for the day.

She made her way towards the fence and lifted the lid of the trashcan and put the trash in. After she closed it she noticed something. Someone had seemed to have spray painted graffiti on her fence. On closer inspection she found the graffiti to be of a circle with an X going through it sprayed with black paint.

There was something very familiar about this image. She was sure she had seen it before, but she wasn't fully sure where.

It gave off an alarming aura that she would know anywhere. This symbol reminded her of the creature. She was sure that it was connected to him somehow.

Seeing it here on her property could only mean one thing.

It was a sign showing that she was his and that there was no escape for that.

Help had better come soon.


End file.
